Donald Trump is weighing a further strike on Iran before November’s midterm elections, as his administration seeks to demonstrate strength, ease pressure over fuel prices and signal progress towards ending the conflict.
Two White House officials said options were being prepared for the President by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. The scale and targets of any operation remain under discussion, with US Central Command developing possible plans and no final decision taken.
A White House official said: “The Commander-in-Chief has all options available at any time. President Trump holds all the cards and will do whatever is best for the United States.”
The official repeated Mr Trump’s belief that the war was nearing an end with an American victory, saying the United States had control of the Strait of Hormuz while Iran’s economy was collapsing.
“Iran has been decimated, and things will go one of two ways; the easy way or the hard way,” the official said.
A Pentagon official declined to comment on the reported plans but said the department’s role was “to develop and present military options to the President”.
Trump faces pressure over Iran war and fuel prices
The proposed strikes would not, on their own, be expected to force Iran back to negotiations or immediately reduce petrol and diesel prices. But officials believe they could give voters the impression that the President had secured a political and military gain.
“It would make the president look like he got a win and that gas prices would start going down,” one Republican familiar with negotiations said.
Mr Trump’s approval rating has fallen since the strikes began in February, while rising energy costs have added to a wider cost-of-living crisis. Diesel reached about $6.50 a gallon last month, increasing the cost of transporting goods including food and construction materials.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll put the President’s approval rating at 32 per cent. Democratic candidates were preferred by 44 per cent of those surveyed, compared with 37 per cent for Republicans, while Democrats were favoured to regain control of the House and could also retake the Senate.
Only about a third of Americans approve of the strikes on Iran. Republican Senate candidates in Iowa, Michigan and Ohio have publicly called for the conflict to end.
Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate for the Senate in Texas, said at a September 24 event that the war and fuel prices were weighing on his campaign. Asked what was “dragging” his bid, he replied: “It’s not tariffs…. It’s the war, it’s gas prices, it’s diesel.”
The eight-month conflict has pushed petrol above $4 a gallon in the United States, while the national average price of diesel stood at $6.37 on Friday after reaching a record $6.52 on September 22.
Fighting has centred in part on the Strait of Hormuz, a major route for Gulf oil and gas. Iran has sought to restrict shipping through the waterway, while the US has imposed a counterblockade of Iranian ports and attacked vessels it accuses of breaching it.
Iran’s top diplomat said on Sunday that there could be no military solution to the conflict, as negotiations appeared to have stalled. A campaign of heavy US and Israeli bombardment failed to bring a decisive conclusion, and Washington has recently reduced military operations while increasing economic pressure.
Mr Trump has previously said it was “possible” that bombing of Iran could be intensified after the midterms. In an interview published on Thursday, he said he would not accept Iranian proposals that “he wouldn’t have approved a year ago”.
