Trump says war with Iran nearing end ‘one way or the other’

President Donald Trump promised on Friday that the war with Iran will end "very soon" and "one way or the other.” During a speech to a crowd in San Antonio, the Republican president remarked, "They have no military. They have no navy, they have no air force, they have no anti-aircraft. We took out yesterday 28 million barrels. I think we took out more than we’ve ever taken out at any other time, including before the war. The Hormuz Strait. The Navy, we put a blockade up, nobody gets through."

The president made these remarks on the same day he reiterated that his administration would not launch another attack against Iran before the midterm elections. "We are having productive discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran," the president wrote Thursday on his official Truth Social account, after a report indicated that he was considering resuming attacks before the elections.

"I want to make it clear to everybody that, while Iran is in very bad condition, that both Economically and Militarily, and while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, with Oil flowing in Record Numbers of Barrels through the Hormuz Strait (22 Million Barrels last night alone, with not one barrel coming from, or going to, Iran!), we will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections to be held in the United States on November 3rd," the president said.

Trump's remarks come one day after the Iranian regime ruled out halting uranium enrichment, even though this has been one of the main demands made by the Republican administration to move forward with negotiations. According to the Reuters news agency, the director of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, explained in a statement that "Enrichment is an integral part of the nuclear process, and we will not give it up under any circumstances. How can one claim to have a nuclear industry without the starting point of the process? The nuclear industry is the engine of science and technology." He also described the U.S. demands regarding Iran's nuclear facilities as "nothing new."