'We Did Not Start the War With Iran': Trump at Ohio Rally, Also Denies Report of Vance Letter

US President Donald Trump has claimed that the United States did not start the ongoing war against Iran. He made the comment at an election rally in Chillicothe, Ohio, ahead of the midterm elections to be held on 3 November.

Speaking at the rally on Wednesday evening local time (Thursday morning Bangladesh time), Trump said: 'We did not start this war. Iran started this conflict back in 1979. This problem should have been solved long before I took office.'

The US president also said that last week he heard a congressman say that 'Trump did not start this war.' In his words: 'This war was started by Iran in 1979, and many Americans have died in it. Their (Iran's) favourite weapon was the roadside bomb, which was led by Soleimani. He is now dead.'

Meanwhile, an Al Jazeera report says that on 28 February this year, while talks on Tehran's nuclear programme were under way through Omani mediators, the United States and Israel attacked Iran. The previous year as well, Iran's nuclear facilities were bombed while talks were in progress.

At the Ohio rally, Trump further claimed that because of the ongoing war, Iran's military capacity, especially drone production, has been severely disrupted. According to him, drone manufacturers are now in deep crisis for lack of sufficient electricity. However, he noted that although Iran still has some missiles, their number has fallen greatly compared with before.

Trump denied rumours of fresh peace talks with Tehran through Vice President JD Vance and reports that a letter had been sent. Answering a journalist's question, he said he had given Vance no instruction to start any peace talks.

Earlier, a Wall Street Journal report had said that, as part of an effort to revive peace talks, Vance had sent a letter to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. Trump's latest remarks run counter to that report.