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War-over talk amid strikes
Seven months into the Iran war, US President Donald Trump is privately weighing whether to declare the conflict over, even as the Pentagon extends troop deployments in West Asia, according to a Wall Street Journal report cited by ANI News.
“Iranian officials stated that 18 people died and 142 others were wounded”
The report came as CENTCOM said it had conducted strikes against multiple sites inside Iran, with Tehran replying by hitting US-linked facilities across the Gulf.
Iranian officials stated that 18 people died and 142 others were wounded in the most recent US strikes, while Washington guided 40 commercial ships through the key waterway on Tuesday, according to two US officials cited by CNN.
US forces also hit nearly 60 Iranian military sites around the Strait of Hormuz, with targets including air defence installations, radar systems, maritime infrastructure, mine-laying facilities and communications networks, as described by ANI News.
In a separate report, investingLive said Trump is privately discussing declaring the Iran war over and that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is quietly extending Mideast troop deployments into 2027 to keep “options in the war.”
Pickaxe threats and “small potatoes”
At a White House event, President Donald Trump threatened Iran with a possible attack on Monte Kolang, also known as Pickaxe, saying, "It is possible that we attack Pickaxe very soon," after speculation about Iranian reserves of highly enriched uranium.
Diario Las Américas reported that Trump described the war with Tehran as a "military conflict" that is "a small thing" compared with Venezuela or Vietnam, while the Government of Iran denied there were "nuclear activities" in the Pickaxe area and called it an "invented pretext for aggression, destruction, and sabotage."
In a separate account, KWQC quoted Trump defending Vice President JD Vance’s remarks by calling the conflict “small potatoes” and saying, “I call it a military conflict because it’s small potatoes for us. It’s not a big thing.”
Los Angeles Times reported Vance rejected calling the fighting a “war,” saying, “Right now, there is no active shooting,” even as Iran fired at U.S. gulf ally Kuwait on Thursday in retaliation for rounds of U.S. strikes on Iran earlier in the week.
The same Los Angeles Times account said Trump noted U.S. strikes on Iran are now “intermittent” while the conflict has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $37.5 billion and left 18 U.S. service members dead, as he tried to downplay the intensity of a war.
Economic pressure and political stakes
ANI News said the development followed the US start last week of Operation Economic Outcast, designed to hit Tehran’s principal economic supports such as oil, shipping, aviation and digital assets, while Trump takes the position that Iran will in time dismantle its nuclear programme under severe economic strain.
“Operation Economic Outcast, designed to hit Tehran’s principal economic supports”
The same ANI News report said US forces escorted 40 commercial ships through the key waterway on Tuesday and struck nearly 60 Iranian military sites around the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring that military pressure and economic pressure are running together.
In the political arena, Europa Press reported Trump accused Democrats of wanting the U.S. to “lose the war” in Iran before his Administration wins the conflict, quoting him: “The lunatics of radical leftists, the nutcases and the communists would prefer that we lose the war in Iran rather than President Donald Trump winning the war for the United States.”
Los Angeles Times said the administration faced anger over rising costs and Brent crude near $95 per barrel, with gas prices and inflation squeezing Americans as Republicans try to protect narrow congressional majorities in the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
In a separate thread tied to markets, Cryptonews.net said investors were watching possible next steps after a Wall Street Journal report that Trump was considering declaring the end of the war, and it cited CoinMarketCap data showing Bitcoin’s 24-hour gain of 5% and a move to break $80,000.