WASHINGTON, September 3 — Seven months into the Iran war, President Donald Trump is privately weighing declaring the war over even as the Pentagon extends troop deployments in West Asia, signaling that the conflict could continue into next year, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The report came as a new wave of strikes took place between the United States and Iran on Tuesday. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said Wednesday that it had conducted strikes against multiple sites inside Iran. Tehran responded by striking U.S.-linked facilities across the Gulf.
Iranian officials said 18 people were killed and 142 others wounded in the latest U.S. strikes.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump has spoken with senior aides about “whether to declare the Iran war over,” a course he privately supports, particularly as the midterm elections approach and energy prices rise because of the war.
The president believes that Iran will eventually dismantle its nuclear program under severe economic pressure. The development followed the U.S. launch last week of Operation Economic Outcast, designed to target Tehran’s principal economic supports, including oil, shipping, aviation and digital assets.
Even as Trump pushes for an end to the Iran war, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is quietly extending troop deployments in West Asia, “in a sign that the conflict could drag well into next year,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
The decision is intended to leave the president with “options in the war,” the outlet reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
As the latest exchanges unfolded between the United States and Iran, Washington guided 40 commercial ships through the key waterway on Tuesday, two U.S. officials told CNN. The number of vessels protected in a single operation was the highest so far in the ongoing war, they said.
U.S. forces also struck nearly 60 Iranian military sites around the Strait of Hormuz. The targets included air defense installations, radar systems, maritime infrastructure, mine-laying facilities and communications networks. (ANI)
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