Trump to the Financial Times: no immediate plan to strike Iran, but the military is “locked and loaded”

Donald Trump told the Financial Times that the United States has no immediate plan to strike Iran again, adding however that the US military is “locked and loaded”. The interview was given on Tuesday, November 3, hours before polls closed in the midterm elections, while the New York Times had reported on a strike plan as early as Wednesday.

Asked about indications from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that an attack might take place later in the week, Trump replied: “I’m ready, we’re ready. We’re locked and loaded if we have to go, but there may not be a need.” He described Washington’s position as an “excellent situation”, saying more oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz than before the war and that the US blockade of Iranian ports is hurting Tehran’s economy. On the indirect negotiations he said: “It looks like we’re getting what we want.”

“We’re not really at war”

The president argued the US is not at war with the country, citing the B-2 bomber strikes on the nuclear facilities (Operation Midnight Hammer) and the later Operation Epic Fury. “We’re not really at war, because we hit them with the B-2s and wiped out their nuclear capability,” he said, adding that he does not see the conflict as comparable to Ukraine or the First and Second World Wars. He did admit that the stockpile of enriched uranium worries him, describing it as “nuclear dust”. “Even if it’s under hundreds of tons of rock, I’m not happy it will be there,” he said, noting the issue is being discussed in contacts with Tehran.

In a separate interview with Fox News, Trump said he does not want to kill many people. “I don’t want to kill a lot of people, but if we’re forced to, we will,” he said. He remarked that “we have them exactly where we want them” and that “we can finish them off or look good and let thousands of people live who would be killed in a war”. On Monday’s strike, November 2, on a recently completed air-defence installation, he said: “Just a little attack. It wasn’t war.” For that strike, see our report on Qeshm.

The New York Times plan and Tehran’s reply

The New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing US officials, that Central Command (CENTCOM) has a plan to begin strikes on Iran as early as Wednesday, after the elections. Since then the Democratic win in Congress has changed the political picture, as we reported in our report on the midterms.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Tuesday that the country remains in a state of war and retains the right of self-defence until aggression against it ends for good. Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned the same day that Tehran’s response to a possible American attack would be unpredictable. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, also said Washington’s answer to Tehran’s demands is not convincing and that the Strait of Hormuz will open only when the US implements Iran’s seven conditions. The two sides are exchanging messages through Qatar; see our report on the Qatari mediation.