Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Donald Trump favors a diplomatic exit from the Iran war. He added that the president would rather avoid force. Meanwhile, Washington and Tehran are both reportedly lining up new strikes for the period after the midterm elections.
Marco Rubio talks about Donald Trump and the Iran War
Marco Rubio told reporters over the weekend that Donald Trump wants to settle the conflict “diplomatically.” He stressed that the latter has not chosen a course yet. The Secretary of State described the president’s mindset this way: “He [Trump] hasn’t made a decision…what the president expresses to you is incredible confidence that if we needed to do something militarily, we would have the ability to do it, and we really we have everything we need to be successful. But we would prefer to do it peacefully.”
Trump spoke to the Right Side Broadcasting Network on Sunday. He sounded more pointed than his secretary of state. “We’ve had such a victory, and we’ll put it away very soon, one way or the other,” he said. He then laid out the options: “Either they’ll make a deal, or we’ll just end it.”
The United States has not openly said it will restart attacks on Iran. Still, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times report that American officials are preparing for possible renewed action once the November 3 midterms pass.
Iran’s leadership is preparing too. On Saturday, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei told the country’s armed forces to answer “any level or type of threat” with “an immediate, impactful, and geographically unrestricted response.” Khamenei also directed commanders to revise the military’s target database. He wants “all kinds of physical and non-physical assets of the U.S.-Zionist enemy are brought within the reach of the Armed Forces,” a reference to U.S. and Israeli forces.
All in all, Trump’s war with Iran will have more concrete updates after tomorrow’s election.
