Trump Predicts Iran War Will End ‘Immediately’ After US Midterms

Washington (GNP): US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the war with Iran would end immediately after the US midterm elections in November, as renewed fighting pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel and raised concerns over disruption to global energy supplies.

Speaking to reporters before travelling to Dallas for a Republican Party midterm convention, Trump said he believed the war would end right after the election because Iran could not hold out any longer. He did not explain the basis for this expectation but said Tehran was seeking to influence the outcome of the vote, arguing that Iran wanted a weaker US government that would leave it alone and allow it to pursue a nuclear weapon. The conflict, which began in February and is now in its seventh month, has shown no clear sign of ending, with both sides continuing to exchange attacks even as diplomatic efforts have yet to produce a lasting agreement.

Trump also predicted that US energy prices, which have risen sharply during the conflict, would fall after the midterms, saying he expected gasoline prices to drop below two dollars a gallon. He said the higher prices were a consequence of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and when asked about elevated gasoline costs, said Americans needed only to consider whether they were prepared to allow Iran to acquire one.

He further claimed Iran was in shambles and suffering from severe inflation, reiterating his assertion that the United States controls the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route for global oil and gas shipments.

The president’s remarks came as oil prices surged on Wednesday amid the intensifying conflict. Brent crude futures rose above $100 a barrel for the first time since July 24, reaching as high as $101.58 before easing, while US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed to its highest level since early June.

The rise followed attacks on oil tankers and growing concern over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply passed before the war began. Shipping volumes through the strait have fallen well below pre-war levels, with preliminary data showing only six commodity vessels passing through the waterway on Tuesday compared with a 10-day average of about 12.

The US Energy Information Administration has raised its price forecasts as the conflict drains global inventories, projecting Brent crude to average about $91 a barrel in 2026 and WTI to average about $84.65 a barrel, forecasts finalised on September 3 before the latest escalation. The disruption has also pushed European natural gas prices higher, with the Dutch TTF benchmark rising above 80 euros per megawatt-hour on Wednesday, its highest level since early 2023.

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Rystad Energy chief economist Claudio Galimberti said flows through the Strait of Hormuz had fallen from around 8 to 9 million barrels per day before fighting resumed on August 30 to below 2 million barrels per day more recently, while Abaxx Markets co-chairman Jeffrey Currie said the rise in energy prices reflected a structural shift rather than a temporary shock.

Military activity has escalated alongside the economic fallout. The US military said on Wednesday it had destroyed 10 Iranian oil tankers over the past week, describing them as part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network financing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. US Central Command said the vessels, identified as the Kaviz, Charminar, Horizon 1, Riesco and Derya, were struck after the Revolutionary Guard targeted a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over two days, adding that crews were ordered to abandon the tankers before they were rendered inoperable and that the warship evaded both attacks without American casualties.

Central Command separately rejected an Iranian claim that its forces had struck two US Navy destroyers, saying no US warship had been hit and that all attempted Iranian attacks had failed. The latest destruction followed the sinking of five other Iranian crude carriers on Tuesday and three more on September 7, after what the command described as further Revolutionary Guard attempts to target a US aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer.

Iran has warned against continued US attacks, with Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif, a senior Revolutionary Guard adviser, telling state broadcaster Press TV that Iran was monitoring the region and that further US strikes could trigger unique Iranian responses, describing the Strait of Hormuz as a strategic and deterrent weapon for Tehran.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Wednesday its naval forces had attacked two US vessels and eight oil tankers in the Gulf in retaliation for the destruction of the five Iranian tankers, claiming heavy damage without identifying the vessels involved, and said it had also targeted 10 other vessels attempting to enter what it called a prohibited and unsafe area of the strait. Separately, Iranian state news agency Fars reported that an explosion was heard off the southern port city of Jask, without providing details on its cause.

The confrontation has extended beyond military targets to commercial shipping around the Strait of Hormuz, marking the largest declared wave of tit-for-tat strikes on shipping since the war began. The oil products tanker Hercules Star was attacked while at anchor off Dubai, killing one crew member and leaving another missing, with maritime security sources suggesting the vessel may have been struck by a drone.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said it had received reports of several merchant vessels struck by disabling fire in the Gulf of Oman, while Iraqi port officials said the tanker New Andros, carrying about two million barrels of fuel oil, caught fire after being struck by a drone in Iraqi waters, though no casualties were reported among its 22 crew members.

Traffic through the strait has fallen sharply since the escalation, with Iran largely choking off transit and Washington imposing a blockade of Iranian ports, though the United States says it has continued guiding tankers through the waterway.