New Delhi: The United States president, Donald Trump, says he is approaching a major decision over whether to resume large-scale military operations against Iran as he prepares for talks with Gulf countries on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly in New York next week. The warning comes days after Trump said he hoped the conflict was nearing an end, leaving renewed military action and another diplomatic effort among the options under consideration.
A meeting is expected on Tuesday with leaders or foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. Several of the Gulf states host US forces or military facilities and all are exposed to the conflict through regional security, energy infrastructure and maritime trade, although the White House has not publicly confirmed the final format of the meeting.
Axios reported that Trump said he had “a big decision coming up” and asked whether he wanted to “go in and annihilate them”, while making clear that no decision had yet been announced. The outlet said the Gulf discussions could help shape whether Washington makes another diplomatic push or returns to major combat operations, which would require support from its regional partners.
Trump said he wanted to use the UN meeting to hear directly from Gulf allies about the next steps in the conflict. “I want to find out where they are and how they are doing. We have been very protective of them,” he told Axios.
The remarks came a day after Trump said the US was “hopefully” approaching the end of the war and claimed Iran wanted a deal. Reuters reported that the two countries remain at war, while intermittent peace contacts have continued.
Iran says it seeks regional calm
Tehran has not publicly endorsed Trump’s account of the diplomatic contacts. The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi said after talks with Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi in Beijing that Iran wanted restoration of calm in the region and friendly relations with its neighbours, adding that Tehran had begun dialogue with regional countries.
Iranian officials have continued to make clear that any negotiations with Washington would be conditional, even as diplomatic contacts involving China, Pakistan, Oman and other regional states continue.
The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the conflict’s main pressure points. Reuters reported that only four commodity vessels transited the waterway on Thursday, compared with a 10-day average of about 16. Before the conflict, the strait carried around one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies.
Axios also reported, citing US officials, that Trump and defence secretary, Pete Hegseth had directed the military to maintain current force levels in West Asia through the end of the year. The posture keeps military options available but does not amount to authorization for another offensive.
For India, the disruption has already altered some Gulf crude movements. Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia is moving additional oil through ship-to-ship transfers off Oman, with some volumes destined for Indian and Japanese buyers.