Trump: US will not attack Iran before November 3 midterm elections

According to Hamshahri, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that the U.S. military would not conduct military strikes against Iran before the November 3 midterm elections. In the message, Trump stated that the U.S. is conducting "constructive talks" with Iran but that "the strangulation" will continue at full force and Iran will not obtain nuclear weapons.

According to the quote Hamshahri cites, Trump wrote: "Even though Iran is in terrible economic and military shape and the strangulation will continue in full force, last night a record volume—22 million barrels of oil—passed through the Strait of Hormuz; none of it belonged to or went to Iran. We will not attack Iran at any stage before the November 3 midterm elections." Reports by Ettelaat and Donya-ye Eghtesad on the same day confirm the quote in the same form; Ettelaat adds that in recent days many U.S. media outlets reported the Pentagon was fully ready for strikes, and that Trump's statement came in response to those reports.

According to a separate report by Hamshahri, Israel's Channel 12 reported that Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir was informed in a meeting with senior U.S. officials two days prior that the U.S. military was preparing to resume large-scale conflict with Iran within the next three weeks. According to the report, a U.S. official and another source familiar with the meeting confirmed this information; Zamir reportedly warned that resuming the war at this stage could delay elections in occupied territories due to the likelihood of Iranian retaliation with missile strikes. According to a separate report by Donya-ye Eghtesad, Israel's Channel 14 reported that Israeli alert levels were raised following these developments and Trump's statements.

According to another report by Hamshahri, Trump made remarks at a rally in Nebraska that could be interpreted as "If Iran destroyed Los Angeles or San Diego, let them see what happens," addressing voters upset about war spending. After these comments faced backlash in the U.S., Trump defended them on Truth Social, saying the statement did not mean he was "inviting" enemies to bomb these cities, but only that a temporary gas price increase was a "small price" for preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. According to Hamshahri's account, California Governor Gavin Newsom responded with a reference to "mental fitness" and citations to the 25th Amendment to the Constitution; White House Communications Director Steven Cheung countered that the criticism lacked "factual grounding," claiming Iran now has neither nuclear weapons nor a navy nor resources.

How the Persian press covered it

Context

Hamshahri and Donya's use of terms like "terrorist U.S. military/administration" reflects these sources' own language choices; in rendering them from Persian, no bias is introduced. Trump's cautious stance on pre-election attacks is not new: in a Fox News interview that The Star Malaysia reported in September, Trump linked his decision not to attack Iran "in full" to the midterm elections and suggested his stance could harden depending on the election outcome. This pattern of statements is consistent with today's Truth Social message. This report follows the Atlantic magazine-sourced story about the Pentagon being asked to prepare Iran strike options before the midterms; in that earlier report, Hamshahri and Iran International cited the same Axios source in opposite directions, and whether the Pentagon was ordered to "complete" or "halt" preparations remained unconfirmed. Today's development does not clarify that frame, but Trump's own public statement of "no attack before the elections" does establish a public timeline; meanwhile, Israeli military preparation for large-scale operations within three weeks and the raising of alert levels signal that preparations continue. The two pieces of information do not contradict each other, but which scenario will prevail remains "unconfirmed."