President Donald Trump said Saturday that he expects the war with Iran to end soon, possibly after the November midterm elections, while saying Tehran was “probably” responsible for attacks that forced Saudi Arabia to shut down its critical East-West oil pipeline.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he believes the war with Iran could end shortly after the November midterm elections, accusing Tehran of attempting to prolong the conflict while also saying Iran was probably behind drone attacks that forced Saudi Arabia to temporarily shut down one of its most important oil pipelines.

Speaking during a visit to Ireland, Trump was asked when he expected the conflict to end.

“I think very soon, I think it will be, probably, right after the midterms,” Trump said.

“They are trying to hold out as long as they can to complicate the election but I think people are wise to it because Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. It’s very simple.”

Trump again framed preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon as a central objective of the conflict, asserting that Tehran had been close to developing one before military action intervened.

“They were two weeks away from having a nuclear weapon. If they had it, they would have blown up Israel, they would have blown up the Middle East, and they would have hit some of Europe’s, in my opinion, Europe’s cities and beyond cities,” Trump said. “And they would have probably hit us too before we put out the fire. But they cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump’s public expectation of a relatively near conclusion comes as the U.S.-Iran conflict continues to affect energy infrastructure and commercial shipping throughout the region. Reuters reported Saturday that Trump said Iran was probably responsible for the latest attack on Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline.

Saudi Arabia said drones launched from Iraqi territory struck the pipeline, which allows Saudi crude to move from the kingdom’s eastern oil-producing region toward the Red Sea without passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The Saudi Energy Ministry said the pipeline was shut down as a precaution after multiple attacks in the Riyadh and Medina regions, with injuries also reported.

Asked Saturday whether he believed Iran was responsible, Trump replied, “I think they are, probably they are.”

No group had claimed responsibility for the pipeline attack at the time of the initial reports, and Saudi Arabia said the drones originated from Iraq. The kingdom initially held off on retaliation following a request from Iraq’s prime minister while reserving the right to protect its territory and critical infrastructure.

Trump also disclosed that the Houthis had contacted the United States and communicated that they did not want a direct confrontation with American forces.

“The Houthis called us and they don’t want to fight with us. They let us know, they don’t want to fight with us…they don’t want us to go after them,” Trump said. “But they have called and they have talked to us, and they don’t want us to, they would much prefer not having us involved.”

The Iran-aligned Houthi movement has become increasingly important to the broader regional conflict as fighting has intensified around maritime routes in the Red Sea and Gulf. Reuters reported that Houthi forces had expanded their presence along Yemen’s Red Sea coastline and reached the strategic island of Perim near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, another major international shipping passage.

Trump separately highlighted U.S. operations in the Strait of Hormuz, saying American forces had removed mines and established military control of the strategic waterway.

“Everyone is seeing the dominance of the American military equipment all over the planet. And you see it now with Iran. We took over the Hormuz Strait. We cleared out all the mines,” Trump said.

He then described what he said he had learned about U.S. mine-clearing operations.

“Even I said, ‘well, how come they’re not shooting down our minesweepers?’ ‘Sir, these minesweepers are underwater. They work underwater at all times,’” Trump continued. “I say, ‘why do you do that?’ ‘Well, generally speaking, when there’s mines, there’s a lot of hostility outside.’ You know, I said ‘that makes sense, right’? In other words, if there are mines in some water way, generally speaking, when you see there are mines or people shooting at you. So if you’re underwater, they don’t know you’re there.”

“But we knocked out and we took out every mine. There’s no mines in there, no nothing,” Trump added.

The Strait of Hormuz has remained a major focus of U.S. military operations because of its importance to global energy transportation. Fighting and attacks on commercial shipping have driven tanker rates sharply higher and disrupted normal oil movements through the region.

U.S. Central Command said Friday that American forces had redirected 99 commercial vessels as of Sept. 11 while enforcing the U.S. blockade against Iran. CENTCOM said the USS Boxer, flagship of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, remained involved in the operation.

“As of Sept. 11, U.S. forces have redirected 99 commercial vessels to ensure total compliance,” CENTCOM said.

The widening pressure campaign against Tehran has extended beyond conventional military operations.

On the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program renewed attention on senior al-Qaeda figures the U.S. government says are based in Iran.

Among them is Sayf al-Adl, an Iran-based senior al-Qaeda leader and member of the terrorist organization’s senior leadership council. The State Department program is offering up to $10 million for information on al-Adl, who was indicted for his alleged role in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Rewards for Justice is separately offering up to $7 million for information on Abd al-Rahman al-Maghrebi, whom the U.S. identifies as an Iran-based senior al-Qaeda leader, and up to $3 million for information on Yasin al-Suri, whom the program identifies as an al-Qaeda facilitator operating from Iran.

The U.S. government says al-Maghrebi has overseen al-Qaeda activities worldwide after relocating to Iran, while al-Suri has facilitated the movement of money and recruits through Iran to support the organization’s leadership.

The terrorism-related rewards and maritime blockade are part of a wider U.S. effort to increase pressure on Iran as military operations continue and regional infrastructure faces new attacks.

The Saudi pipeline incident has raised the stakes further because the East-West route provides the kingdom with an alternative means of moving oil when traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted. Saudi authorities said emergency and technical teams were assessing the pipeline after the attacks and would announce additional developments as they became available.

Trump, however, presented the conflict Saturday as one that he believes is moving toward an endpoint, even as he tied its timing to the U.S. political calendar and accused Iran of attempting to remain in the fight through the midterm elections.

His remarks combined that prediction with a warning that preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon remains nonnegotiable, while his comments about the Saudi pipeline, the Houthis and the Strait of Hormuz underscored how far the conflict has expanded across the region’s energy infrastructure and strategic waterways.

Original article