Trump weighs holding off on new Iran strikes unless Tehran provokes US
President Trump has told senior aides he may hold off on resuming military strikes on Iran, despite repeatedly threatening to attack the country if it endangers US interests.Trump told senior advisers in recent days that he would refrain from launching new strikes as long as Iran or its Houthi proxies in Yemen don’t provoke the US, Reuters reported.A week ago, Trump confirmed US attacks on Iranian defense facilities on Qeshm island in the Strait of Hormuz, describing them as “minor strikes.”The president on Thursday told Salem News Channel he would hit Iran to prevent it from threatening US allies and American vessels “without hesitation.”That same day, he told sports journalist Stephen A.Smith in an interview that he was holding off on further strikes at the request of regional allies.“I could end it immediately, but at the request of the nations that I am looking to protect, we are doing it a little bit longer way, a bit more civilly,” he told the sports personality, who in October dined with Trump and talk-show host Bill Maher.Adding to the administration’s mixed messages, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Federalist Society on Friday that the war was “militarily effectively over.”“And right now, frankly, the economic pain that we are inflicting on that regime is so great that there’s no need for military action because we’ve weakened them so much,” he said.
“But I think victory is ensuring that they never have a nuclear weapon.”The US maintains a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz which is choking off Iran’s economy and contributing to soaring inflation.On-and-off negotiations through Qatari and other intermediaries have yet to bear fruit.Trump said Wednesday that “we won” the war, but posted on Truth Social Thursday that the US no longer needed a deal.“We don’t need a deal with Iran.
Those days have long since passed,” he wrote.“We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their S...