New strike on Iran very unlikely if talks move forward, says Trump
US President Donald Trump has said that if talks to end the conflict move forward, the chance of American forces launching a new strike or military operation against Iran is very low. He made the remark in a telephone interview with the US news outlet CNN on Sunday.
In the interview, President Trump said, “It depends on whether they sign a very strong deal. Put simply, if Iran agrees to sign a deal, the need for such an attack is very unlikely.”
CNN did not say exactly what question Trump had been asked. But in the interview Trump also said that if attacks were to resume, the United States has already identified possible infrastructure targets in Iran — including 38 bridges. Those bridges would be targeted first, he said.
“We can literally destroy those bridges within an hour,” he told CNN.
Meanwhile, on Sunday afternoon local time, the US president posted a message on his social media platform Truth Social. In it, he said that ‘Task Force Iron Gate’ against Iran remains in full force. The aim of the military operation is to stop advanced weapons and other banned materials from reaching Tehran through land borders and the Caspian Sea.
After last week’s US midterm elections, Trump has acknowledged that the war with Iran was one of the reasons behind the Republicans’ defeat.
Vice President J D Vance, seen as his successor, went a step further, writing plainly on social media: “We lost because we’re fighting wars.”
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump said, “Many people did not like Vance’s comments on Iran.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio — considered one of Trump’s possible successors — declined on Sunday to comment on whether there is any link between the Iran war and the election.
He told reporters, “All I can say is that the president of the United States identified a long-standing real threat to this country and he dealt with it.”
Asked about diplomatic efforts to end the war, Rubio said he does not think major progress is likely very soon.
“The president always prefers to solve any problem diplomatically; unfortunately, that is not always possible. But if there is such an opportunity, we will certainly look into it. Currently this effort has not been very fruitful, because Iran’s demands are not only unacceptable, but in some cases extremely objectionable, laughable and unrealistic,” Rubio told reporters.
Before the midterm elections, Trump had hinted that he would launch a major attack on Iran after the elections, but so far there has been no sign of any major US military operation.
In response to President Trump’s hint, Iran said that if US forces really do start new attacks, it will strike US and Israeli targets.
