Trump rules out attack on Iran before midterms and says talks are productive

President Donald Trump has said the United States will not attack Iran before November's midterm elections, and he described current discussions with Tehran as productive. In a post on Truth Social, he said: "I want to make it clear to everybody that while Iran is in a very bad condition, we will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the midterm elections." The statement came after US media reports suggested the Pentagon might be preparing to resume strikes on Iran. The Atlantic reported that the White House had asked the military to develop plans for hitting sites in Iran before the midterms. Axios said a directive had been sent to US Central Command to complete preparations for resuming major combat operations. Those reports had added to pressure on oil prices.

Trump had earlier appeared to suggest to Axios that talks between US and Iranian negotiators could take place later this week. The diplomatic door between Washington and Tehran remained open, but only just. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, was believed to be meeting Qatari mediators in New York. He said Iran was still open to diplomacy but ready to confront the United States even if it led to what he called an apocalyptic war. Trump also rejected Iran's latest proposals for ending the conflict and reopening the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping.

The Strait of Hormuz remains the central pressure point. It is both a military standoff and a global energy choke point. Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed they had seized another American underwater drone in the strait, but the US military flatly denied the claim. A statement read by an Iranian news presenter and attributed to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, said enemy forces no longer came beyond the Arabian Sea because of blows from Iran's fighters. It said the Arabian Sea would be rid of them before too long.

In the latest talks, Araghchi said Tehran was reviewing Washington's response to a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days. He said negotiations were continuing and Iran expected to respond within a few days. US Vice President JD Vance said Iran had to meaningfully reduce its nuclear enrichment, according to the coverage. A ceasefire agreement had envisaged dealing with the Strait of Hormuz within 30 or 60 days before moving to Iran's nuclear file. The United States now wants to discuss the nuclear issue sooner, arguing that enough oil is getting out of the strait, close to pre-war levels.

Analysts said both sides were watching the US midterms. Washington believed Tehran was waiting for the elections and trying to apply more leverage to Trump. Trump was said to be avoiding big decisions on Iran before the domestic vote. One former US National Security Council official said talks were unlikely to produce a near-term breakthrough because neither side was making concessions, although saying they were at the table benefited both and kept markets calm. The official also warned that Iran's Revolutionary Guards and foreign ministry had different strengths, asymmetric warfare and negotiations, and could pursue both at once.

Separately, the USS Abraham Lincoln returned to the United States after a record-breaking deployment to the Middle East. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed concerns about conditions on board and praised the crew for what he called an historic mission. Last week saw the biggest number of attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz since the war began, again limiting the amount of fuel getting out of the region. Loud booms were heard over the Saudi Arabian capital as the conflict with the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen intensified. The Houthis said they attacked airports across the country, including multiple strikes on Riyadh Airport.