President Donald Trump said on Sunday that restarting open war with Iran is highly unlikely as long as indirect negotiations continue to progress.
Speaking in a 20-minute phone interview with CNN, Trump conditioned any lasting peace on whether Tehran signs a very strong agreement to constrain its nuclear program and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The more than eight-month-old conflict has triggered soaring oil prices and severe inflation.
Trump’s Republican Party recently suffered heavy losses in the midterm elections, a defeat fueled in part by voter dissatisfaction with the war and rising gas prices, according to CNN reporting. Iranian hardliners have seized on those election results to argue that a weakened White House might yield to Tehran’s demands, CNN reported.
Despite calling new military action unlikely, Trump left the door open for additional strikes and warned that U.S. forces remain fully prepared. He told CNN that three aircraft carrier strike groups are currently in the region and fully locked and loaded.
The president detailed specific infrastructure targets if hostilities resume, stating that Washington has 38 bridges in its site that can be knocked down in literally one hour, alongside potential power plant targets. However, Trump told CNN he would prefer to avoid destroying civilian infrastructure because the bridges would take 10 years to rebuild.
Assessing Iran’s military capabilities, Trump asserted that the country’s air defenses have been entirely destroyed by previous American airstrikes. He claimed that Iran maintains only 10 percent of its missile capacity and 15 percent of its drone capabilities because most of their factories are gone.
Contrasting that assessment, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned against renewed American military action by invoking the Republican midterm defeat, Ynetnews reported. Araghchi stated that Tehran’s two-day proposal requires an end to the war on all fronts before results can be seen. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent favors tightening economic pressure on Iran rather than resuming military operations, according to Ynetnews.
In the wake of his interview, Trump shared on Truth Social that the Islamic Republic of Iran is now facing Task Force Iron Gate at full operational capacity, paired with the most extensive naval blockade in history. Central Command announced the task force on Saturday to prevent the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, and illegal revenue streams across Iranian land borders and the Caspian Sea.
The U.S. has maintained a naval blockade of Iranian ports for months, restricting crude oil sales and leaving billions of dollars in Iranian assets frozen in foreign banks, as reported by CNN. Washington has also offered a reward of up to $20 million for information on Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump has demanded that Iran fully open the Strait of Hormuz and agree to never develop a nuclear weapon as part of any final agreement.
Trump stated that Iran retains roughly 10 percent of its missile capacity and about 15 percent of its drone capabilities following earlier U.S. strikes.
The movement of sanctioned materials, illegal revenue streams, dual-use technologies, and advanced weapons systems across the Caspian Sea and Iran’s land borders is the target of Task Force Iron Gate, which was set up by Central Command.
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