Shafaq News- Washington
US President Donald Trump said the war with Iran would end “immediately after the election,” arguing that Tehran could no longer sustain the conflict.
Talking to reporters before traveling to Texas for the Republican Party’s midterm convention, Trump accused Tehran of seeking to influence the US midterm elections. “They’re desperate to try and affect the election, so that we can get a nice weak group of people in there, and leave them alone and let them have their nuclear weapon,” he said.
Washington is not currently seeking an agreement with Iran, although negotiations could take place, according to the US President. He added that US forces had attacked nine Iranian vessels and that the United States would carry out additional strikes against Iran.
Meanwhile, a senior Iranian official told Bloomberg that Iran is prepared for a more intense war and would step up its retaliatory strikes if the United States continued attacking its territory and infrastructure.
The official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said Tehran had no intention of backing down in the face of what Iran calls a US naval blockade and attacks on its oil tankers.
Economic pressure could increase, but Iranian leaders view the war with the United States as an existential threat that leaves them little choice but to continue fighting, according to the official.
Earlier today, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it struck 20 vessels in two operations in retaliation for US attacks on Iranian oil tankers. The IRGC said the targets included two US vessels and eight oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, along with 10 other vessels that it noted had tried to enter restricted waters in the Strait of Hormuz with US backing.
The IRGC also reported it fired ballistic missiles at Jordan’s Al-Azraq Air Base, which hosts US forces, and would continue its operations while US attacks persisted. Jordan’s military said it intercepted 18 missiles, while two fell in unpopulated areas without causing injuries.
US forces earlier disabled five crude oil tankers linked to the IRGC, following two Iranian attempts to strike a US warship with ballistic missiles over the previous two days.