President Donald Trump has said it is getting to be decision time on Iran, framing the choice in the starkest terms he has used in weeks: make a deal with Tehran, or resume attacks. In an interview with Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, Trump said: I have a decision to make. Do I finish it off, which would be very easy to do, or do I make a deal? That is all. He added that his administration does not play games, and reports of the interview said he has sent additional forces, including a third aircraft carrier group, toward the Persian Gulf.
No strike on Sunday, but no settlement either
Trump also moved to cool the immediate temperature, telling reporters later on Sunday as he left the White House that there would not be a strike that day. The two statements together describe a president keeping his options open while the calendar does political work of its own: Trump has said the United States would not attack Iran at any time before the November 3 midterm elections, and officials warn the period between the election and the new Congress taking office could be particularly dangerous. A negotiated deal is seen by officials as the most likely way to end the conflict, but no deal has been announced, and the disagreements over Iran’s nuclear programme, the American naval blockade and the Strait of Hormuz remain unresolved.
Why the region is on edge anyway
The United States is reducing diplomatic and military staffing in parts of the Middle East amid growing threats from Iran and the Iran backed Houthi militants in Yemen, who have repeatedly struck the Riyadh airport, which reopened on Sunday for commercial flights. Houthi attacks on ships near the Strait of Hormuz have also intensified, according to officials, and staffing changes that began with diplomats in Saudi Arabia are now taking place more broadly. The decision time Trump describes is therefore not only about a single order. It is about whether a buildup meant to pressure Tehran into a deal ends in an agreement, or whether the same buildup becomes the prelude to a resumption of strikes once the election has passed.
