Donald Trump has predicted that the Iran war will end immediately after the US midterm elections, while conceding that petrol prices are unlikely to fall before the November 3 vote.
The president made the claim on Wednesday as he travelled from Joint Base Andrews to Dallas for a Republican midterm convention. He said Iran was attempting to prolong the conflict in the hope of influencing the election and weakening his party’s position in Congress.
“I think the war’s going to end immediately after the election because they can’t hold out any longer,” Mr Trump told reporters. He also said oil prices would begin “tumbling downward” once the fighting ended.
The prediction came as the conflict entered its seventh month, despite Mr Trump having initially indicated that the military operation would last only weeks. There is currently no clear sign of an imminent settlement, and the president acknowledged that negotiations remained possible but were not the preferred option.
Iran war keeps pressure on US fuel prices
Global oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday, with Brent crude climbing above $100 a barrel for the first time since July as fighting intensified and disruption around the Strait of Hormuz continued.
Average US petrol prices rose by about seven cents overnight to $4.22 a gallon, according to the American Automobile Association. Diesel reached $5.94 a gallon, adding to pressure on consumers and businesses already facing higher costs.
The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil previously passed, has seen a substantial reduction in traffic since the conflict began. The disruption has contributed to the rise in energy prices and become a growing political problem for Republicans ahead of the midterms.
Vice-president JD Vance last week declined to set a timetable for the war’s conclusion, saying that the question of when the fighting would end was ultimately one that had to be answered by Iran.
Mr Trump, however, insisted that Tehran would not be able to sustain the conflict beyond the election. He said American voters could be reassured by framing the war around the question of whether Iran should be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.
