TRUMP AIDES SAID URGING HIM TO ARTICULATE WAR EXIT PLAN(That’s Bibi and Israel that doesn’t want to end the war, Trumps aides don’t beg him to continue the war Israel Times is freaked out the Bibi can’t blow up the whole country.)
Trump: Iran war could be over soon, but oil disruption would trigger harsher US strikes
IRGC hits back at US president, insisting it will be one to determine when war ends; while disappointed with Mojtaba Khamenei, Trump says he prefers someone from within Iran to take over
By AGENCIES and JACOB MAGID FOLLOW
US President Donald Trump said Monday that the war against Iran could be short-lived, but he left open the possibility of an escalation in fighting if global oil supplies are disrupted by the Islamic Republic under its newly chosen, hard-line supreme leader.
Oil prices briefly shot to their highest level since 2022, a day after Iran selected Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his late father as Iran’s supreme leader. Investors saw it as a signal that Iran was digging in 10 days into the war launched by the United States and Israel.
But prices later fell and US stocks rose on hopes that the war with Iran may not last much longer.
“It’s going to be ended soon, and if it starts up again they’ll be hit even harder,” Trump told a news conference in Florida, after telling lawmakers that the campaign would be a “short-term excursion” from what he said have been gradually improving economic numbers.
Pressed whether “soon” means in a week, Trump responded, “No, but I think soon.”
Hours later, Trump posted on social media: “If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far.”
During the press conference, Trump threatened to target certain electricity production sites in Iran if Tehran disrupts global oil supply.
“We’ve left some of the most important targets for later, in case we need to do it,” Trump said. “If we hit [those targets], it’s going to take many years for them to be rebuilt. [The targets have] to do with electricity production and many other things. We’re not looking to do that if we don’t have to.”
“I will not allow a terrorist regime to hold the world hostage and attempt to stop the globe’s oil supply. If Iran does anything to do that, they’ll get hit at a much harder level. I will take out those targets… that I mentioned just before.”
In an apparent response to Trump’s remarks, a spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said, “Iran will determine when the war ends.”
Tehran will not allow “one liter of oil” to be exported from the region if US and Israeli attacks continue, the IRGC spokesperson warned.
The war has choked off major supplies of oil and gas to world markets and sent fuel prices rising across the US. The fighting has also led foreigners to flee from business hubs and prompted millions to seek shelter as bombs hit military bases, government buildings, oil and water installations, hotels and at least one school.
Trump also had a call on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the war and other issues. Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Putin “voiced a few ideas regarding a quick political and diplomatic settlement” of the conflict following his conversations with Gulf leaders and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian…
https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-iran-war-could-be-over-soon-but-oil-disruption-would-trigger-harsher-us-strikes/