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U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that Washington may carry out further strikes on Iran, saying the U.S. has "knocked the hell out of them."
Trump spoke to reporters at the White House before departing for a campaign rally in Iowa.
"This should have been done a long time ago by other presidents, the Iran war, and we’ve knocked the hell out of them, and we may do it a little bit further," Trump said.
Asked about public reaction to the war, Trump gave a split answer.
"Well, in one way they love it because I’m doing what should have been done by other presidents. In another way, maybe they don’t," he said.
"There’s a price to pay, which I knew immediately when I did it. But we can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon," he added.
On Wednesday, Trump said Washington is not negotiating with Iran and that "something one way or the other" will happen "fairly soon."
The New York Times (NYT) reported that the U.S. and Israeli militaries have developed plans for renewed strikes on Iran after the U.S. midterm elections, though it said it is far from certain Trump will approve them.
The Financial Times (FT) also reported Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed threats to launch a fresh offensive on Iran following the Nov. 3 midterms.
The U.S. and Israel launched a war against Iran on Feb. 28, prompting Tehran to respond with missile and drone attacks in the region and effectively close the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global energy supplies.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in June to pave the way for a final peace deal but collapsed amid disagreements, including over navigation in the strait.
Trump on Thursday accused Iran of trying to drive up global oil prices ahead of the midterm elections.
"Iran is doing everything they can to drive up the price of Oil prior to the U.S. Midterm Election," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
"They are even making up fake hits, mines, and everything else, because more Oil is coming through the Hormuz Strait now than it did even prior to the beginning of the Conflict," he wrote.
Trump also accused Iranian authorities of continuing to kill protesters and others who oppose the government. "75,000 protestors lie dead in less than seven months," he wrote.
"Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, and they will never have a nuclear weapon!" Trump wrote.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that they struck four vessels in the area of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, while three others hit sea mines. According to the IRGC, all the damaged ships were on the southern route hugging the Omani coast, which the U.S. uses to escort tankers out of the Persian Gulf.
While the U.S. is escorting large amounts of oil out of the Gulf, the process is costly. Overall, regional instability has kept prices high despite increased supply since the early weeks of the war.
The U.S. is preparing for a protracted conflict with Iran, even as the Trump administration hopes its bombing campaigns and economic sanctions will force major concessions.
Mike Waltz, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, acknowledged that a year from now the U.S. could still be mired in a stalemate with Iran, without a deal on its nuclear program or a return to prewar shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
"I’m not going to put out hypotheticals. One would hope that they’ll come to the table in a meaningful way before that," Waltz told the FT.
"The president and the U.S. Navy can maintain this blockade for the foreseeable future," he said, adding the administration is tightening its economic pressure campaign.
Waltz said the U.S. will not have achieved its strategic objectives until it has disposed of Iran’s highly enriched nuclear material and reached a "meaningful agreement on their domestic enrichment" with Tehran.
The war Trump initially said would last "four to five weeks" is now approaching its ninth month. It has triggered record-high fuel prices, as well as fertilizer and commodity shortages, with Iran striking critical energy infrastructure across the Gulf states.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) posted Thursday that it has maintained a reinstated blockade on Iranian ships entering or exiting ports through the Strait of Hormuz for 100 days.
The blockade has prevented $25 billion in crude oil exports by Iran, according to CENTCOM.
The blockade was reinstated July 14 after the Islamabad MoU fell apart over the wording of one clause, according to the report. Iran believed it would determine navigation through the strait and withhold charging fees for at least 60 days.
The U.S. said the wording did not allow Iran to determine transit.
Iran began targeting ships in the strait again and the U.S. reinstituted its blockade, which initially ran from April 13 to June 18.
The new blockade had redirected 138 ships as of the last U.S. update on Oct. 17.
"There have been no exports or imports to Iran by sea except for the humanitarian aid U.S. forces have allowed," CENTCOM said.
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