President Donald Trump predicted Friday that the U.S. war against Iran would end soon, as Qatari mediators returned to Tehran to push for a peace deal being negotiated by Washington and Tehran. He did not say how the war would end.
Trump is considering authorizing military strikes on Iran after the November midterm elections, according to The Hill. He has denied that Vice President JD Vance’s outreach to senior Iranian figure Mohsen Rezaei was intended to restart broader peace talks, saying it concerned medical aid to Iran. Iranian media reported that Tehran had not responded to Vance’s letter.
The U.S. Central Command chief, Adm. Brad Cooper, said Friday that Iran’s navy had been destroyed and southern shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz were safe and open. Iran has claimed that commercial vessels struck mines on the southern route, while the U.K. navy confirmed an attack on a ship in the area.
Iranian state media reported that the Revolutionary Guards said a supertanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of oil struck a mine and caught fire in the strait. Separately, Oman said it evacuated 25 crew members from a Panama-flagged tanker attacked in the waterway; it was unclear whether the incidents were related.