Video: Trump reveals why he holds off on Iran conflict
Abdullateef Fowewe
United State President Donald Trump has said that he could end the ongoing conflict with Iran “immediately” but is instead pursuing a slower, more restrained approach at the request of several Middle Eastern allies.
Video: Trump reveals why he holds off on Iran conflict
“I could end it immediately, but at the request of the nations that I’m looking to protect, we are doing it a little bit longer, a little bit more civilly,” Trump in an interview conducted at the White House.
He specifically named Gulf countries that he said prefer the current strategy of sustained economic and military pressure over further large-scale strikes.
“Saudi Arabia has asked me to please just let it be the way it is now for a while because they’re disintegrating,” Trump said, referring to Iran.
“Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, all of them would much prefer the waiting period.”
Trump acknowledged he was not fully convinced by the allies’ preference.
“I’m not sure I agree with it, but we’ve taken them largely out,” he added.
When asked whether he would have intensified the campaign without those requests, he replied, “Yes, I would.”
He claimed the United States could destroy Iran’s remaining energy infrastructure, bridges, and manufacturing capacity in as little as three days.
The remarks come amid a prolonged U.S.-Iran conflict that has featured American strikes, a naval presence aimed at controlling key waterways including the Strait of Hormuz, and intense economic pressure.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that Iran’s military has been heavily degraded and that the country is suffering severe economic distress, including inflation exceeding 300 percent and difficulties paying security forces.
The war has also carried domestic political costs.
Trump acknowledged that higher gasoline prices linked to the conflict contributed to Republican losses in the recent midterm elections, though he defended the decision to confront Iran as necessary and long overdue.
Regional diplomacy continues in parallel, with Gulf states playing mediating roles and expressing a preference for maintaining pressure while avoiding wider escalation.
Trump has indicated that further major U.S. military action is currently unnecessary and that the conflict could end “fairly soon,” while stressing that American forces remain prepared to act if circumstances change.
