The Iran War
State of the Union: Damage to U.S. warplanes was reported from an earlier Iranian strike, and Yemen’s Houthis captured a strategic Red Sea port.
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
On Wednesday, President Trump said the Iran War would end right after the November midterm elections. “I think the war is going to end immediately after the election,” Trump told reporters as he left to address the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas, adding that the Iranians “can’t hold out any longer.” He made a similar statement during his speech later in the evening: “The war will be over very shortly after the election… [The Iranians are] hanging out for dear life, hoping that we lose, so they can deal with dumb, weak Democrats and they can have their nuclear bomb.”
Also on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that top White House officials have warned Trump the Iran War could continue through the rest of his term. “Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others have discussed with the president that Tehran could continue to resist U.S. pressure under the blockade and other military tactics, potentially extending the conflict past Inauguration Day in January 2029,” according to the Journal.
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Iran’s Tuesday attack on a U.S. airbase in Jordan appears to have caused damage to warplanes, and may have also injured U.S. troops. U.S. officials confirmed Wednesday that no one was killed in the strikes, but cautioned that some servicemembers may have suffered traumatic brain damage. The officials also characterized the impact to equipment as “minimal;” reportedly one A-10 attack aircraft had a wing blown off, while eight F-15 fighter aircraft sustained lighter damage.
On Thursday, Yemen’s Houthi militia captured the strategic Red Sea port of Mokha, according to Yemeni officials. The seizure of this city from government forces, which comes after days of intense ground fighting, could bolster the Houthis’ ability to threaten maritime traffic—including energy shipments—through the key Bab el-Mandeb waterway.
AAA reports that the average price of regular gasoline in the United States is $4.28 per gallon.
