President Donald Trump said Monday that he will not resume strikes on Iran after Tuesday's US midterm elections. A White House pool reporter shouted the question as Trump finished speaking, and he gave a one-word reply: "No." Israel launched the war against Iran alongside the United States on February 28, The Jerusalem Post noted.
Trump attributed a fall of nearly $10 per barrel in oil prices to expectations that the war with Iran will not restart. He also said Tehran wants an agreement as soon as possible. "It could definitely happen!" he said.
Trump returned to the subject in his closing speech before the midterms, which he delivered in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington. JNS reported that the oil drop followed reports that Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had given the country's diplomats additional powers to reach a settlement with the United States. "It's going to go down a lot further," Trump said of oil prices. "We're winning with Iran, easily winning."
"We had a war with Iran. We won," he said. "I don't know if you even call it a war because we haven't been doing any fighting for months." Trump has said repeatedly that there would be no new attack on Iran before the midterms.
The Jerusalem Post put Monday's oil decline at nearly 4%. The fall reflected hopes that the latest mediation effort could produce a diplomatic resolution.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the Qatari-mediated indirect talks between Tehran and Washington "very intense." He said the future of diplomacy depends on Washington's "political rationality" and warned that any renewed military action against Iran would meet a heavy response. Reuters reported that Qatar's mediators were back in Tehran on Monday night for more talks with Araghchi.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the Supreme Leader had granted the government "certain authorities" over the peace talks. He added that Tehran "will try to resolve the problem with dialogue." Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the exchanges through mediators were continuing. "However, the issue is complex," he said.
Baghaei said the talks are still based on Iran's seven-step proposal. "The basis of dialogue and talks between Iran and the US via mediators is still Iran's seven-step proposal, which is now condensed, making it possible to implement it within two days," he said. The plan's terms include:
- The US ends its blockade of Iranian ports
- Iran reopens the Strait of Hormuz
- The US grants a waiver on Iranian oil sales
- New sanctions on Iran are cancelled
- Talks follow on other issues
