Trump: Gulf states asked me to hold off on new Iran strikes
US President Donald Trump said he could end the war with Iran immediately, but has held back from wider strikes at the request of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.
RastinewsUS President Donald Trump gave an interview to American commentator Stephen A. Smith at the White House. Trump said he could end the war in Iran right away, but allies in the region had asked him to keep the pressure at its current level.
Trump said Saudi Arabia had asked him to "please leave everything as it is for a while." He said Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain shared that view.
He did not hide his disagreement with the Gulf states' position. "I'm not sure I agree with that," he said.
"It would only take three days"
Asked whether he would launch new strikes if the Gulf states hadn't objected, Trump's answer was brief. "Yes, I would," he said.
Trump said the US had so far largely avoided targeting Iran's energy infrastructure, bridges and manufacturing facilities. "Their energy would be gone in a day, their bridges would be gone in a day, their production capacity would be gone in a day. That would only take me three days," he said.
In the same interview, Trump acknowledged that fuel prices driven up by the war had played a role in Republicans' midterm election losses. He nonetheless stood by his decision to strike Iran.
Threat issued hours earlier
The interview aired just hours after Trump said he would not hesitate to launch new military strikes against Iran.
According to Al Jazeera, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said separately that it had struck a US early-warning radar in Bahrain. The Revolutionary Guard said the strike was in response to an attack on a telecommunications tower in Sirik on Thursday.
Earlier this week, Trump said he had delayed new strikes on Iran at the Gulf states' request. The US naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz remains in place.