‘US will not attack Iran before November 3 midterm elections’:Trump says US holding productive talks with Iran, blockade to continue

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States will not launch military strikes against Iran before the November 3 midterm elections. However, he said Washington’s blockade of Iranian oil shipments would remain in place. Trump said discussions with Tehran were progressing but stressed that economic pressure on Iran would continue. “We are having productive discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social. Trump said Iran was in a difficult economic and military situation and that the blockade would remain in effect. He also claimed that 22 million barrels of oil had moved through the Strait of Hormuz the previous night, while saying none of it was coming from or going to Iran. Trump’s statement came after Axios reported that the Pentagon had been directed to prepare for possible US strikes against Iranian nuclear, military and energy infrastructure. The development comes amid continuing tensions between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s oil exports, nuclear programme and the Strait of Hormuz. Strait of Hormuz remains key point of dispute The Strait of Hormuz is a crucial global oil route, with roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supplies passing through the waterway before the war. Iran has said normal shipping through the strait cannot resume until conditions agreed upon during earlier negotiations are fulfilled. Tehran has also maintained that it will not give up its right to enrich uranium, which remains a major obstacle to reaching a long-term agreement with Washington. On October 4, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Iran would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until seven conditions outlined in a June agreement were met. ​