Iran war: Trump says a decision on new strikes is coming 'very soon' as the Hormuz standoff continues

Who's saying what

• President Trump

  He told the Financial Times this week "we're locked and loaded if we need to go, but there may be no reason for it". In the Oval Office on 5 November he said the world "will know very soon" whether he will make a deal or order strikes to "destroy what is left" of Iran, adding he would prefer not to. Of the war, he said: "If I had to do it again, I'd have to do it again." He accuses Iran of inventing the tanker claims to raise energy prices.¹³⁷

• Others in the US government

  Vice President JD Vance wrote after the midterms: "The reason we lost is the war." Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said no decision has been made. HNGN reports advisers are split, with Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff favouring an agreement, and others favouring the blockade and economic pressure.¹⁵⁶

• Iran

  Security official Mohsen Rezaei called the US reply "not convincing" and said the strait will reopen only if Iran's seven conditions, including an end to the blockade, are met. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Tehran has offered to cut the timetable from seven days to two and that "everything depends on" Washington. Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned that if attacks recur, "the war's scope will become much wider".¹²⁵

• US Democrats

  Sen. Chuck Schumer said "This war must end. It must end", and suggested Democrats could use government funding to force that.¹

• Mediators and Gulf states

  Qatar's Foreign Ministry said "Both parties are reviewing suggestions we as mediators proposed" and that differences remain. Qatar's emir told Trump by phone he stressed "relying on diplomatic means to settle disputes". HNGN reports Qatar and Pakistan are working on a narrower deal: Iran halts attacks on shipping and the US lifts its blockade. Euronews and Iran International report that US allies in the Gulf were told to prepare for possible strikes; the US has not confirmed this in the reports read here.³⁴⁵⁶

What's next

As of 6 November neither new strikes nor a settlement had been announced. Mediators from Qatar, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are carrying indirect talks, and China says its envoy will visit Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia later this month.¹³

The full story

More than eight months after US-Israeli strikes began the war, President Trump says he will decide soon between a deal with Iran and new strikes. Vice President Vance blames the war for the Republicans' midterm defeat. Iran says it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until its conditions are met, while the US keeps its blockade of Iranian ports. Attacks on shipping continue, some of them claimed by Iran but unconfirmed, and Qatar and other mediators are working on a first step.

checked Nov 6, 2026