Donald Trump says the US will not strike Iran before the November 3 midterm elections, even as Iran escalates attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The pledge came as oil prices surged on fresh tanker strikes, and as polls show the war hurting Republican chances at the ballot box.
Donald Trump said Washington will not strike Iran before the midterm elections, as Iran steps up attacks on commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices had surged to their highest level this month after tankers were hit by missiles in the Gulf and off the coast of Oman late Wednesday.
Trump rules out strikes before the vote
According to a Trump social media post on Thursday: "We will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections", adding that Washington and Tehran were having productive discussions. Brent trimmed its gain following the post, trading 3.4% higher at $103.62 a barrel.
Months of strikes on Iranian targets
The US had earlier retaliated against Iranian attacks on tankers trying to move oil out of the Gulf. At the end of August, the US military struck two Iranian rocket launchers on an island in the strait, saying it had targeted Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the waterway.
The last publicly acknowledged US strikes on Iranian targets came a month earlier, when the military claimed to have destroyed five of the regime's crude oil tankers in retaliation for an IRGC attack on a US Navy warship. Trump had previously said he could resume attacks after the November 3 vote, and the White House had asked US Central Command to draw up possible strike options to carry out before the midterms, according to the Atlantic magazine report cited Wednesday.
Midterm politics shadow the war
Trump's post was a tacit acknowledgment that further strikes against Iran could undermine Republican candidates on the campaign trail less than a month before the midterms. Polls show voters' anger over the high cost of fuel tied to the war could cost his party at the ballot box.
Democrats are confident they can take the House of Representatives and are increasingly optimistic about the Senate. Senate seats in Texas, Alaska, Ohio, Iowa and Kansas are now either virtual ties or leaning Democratic, according to the non-partisan Cook Political Report.
Source: Markets (Financial Times)
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