NewzPresident Donald Trump and Iranian officials seem to agree on one thing about their seven-month-old war WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Iran's leadership appear to agree on one thing about their seven-month-old war: they each insist the U.S. election calendar isn't motivating them to find an end to it.
election calendar isn't motivating them to find an end to it.Persistent inflation and high gas prices fueled by the conflict have driven widespread American disapproval of the war — a sentiment casting a long shadow over the Nov. 3 election that will determine whether Trump's party keeps control of Congress. economic sanctions and a naval blockade on Iranian oil are causing profound shocks for Tehran's economy.Yet, Iranian officials remain insistent there won't be a deal until the U.S.
lifts the blockade and delivers sanctions relief. He has dispatched more military resources to the region and threatened to resume strikes — even as he also declares that the U.S. “will not be attacking Iran at any time prior” to Nov.
3.Speaking to fellow world leaders last month at the U.N. General Assembly, Trump insisted he “will not give credence to the election when it comes to Iran.”Now, more than a week into a 32-day campaign blitz for Republican candidates, Trump is doubling down on that message, telling voters he's winning the war while darkly warning he's ready to "finish it off" if Iran doesn't capitulate.“I will tell you what: Iran will be very quick one way or the other,” Trump said Friday as he campaigned in New York. “Either they give us everything, or they don’t exist any longer.”Iran has shown resilience to Trump's threatsTrump's campaign bravado comes after his stated war goals in Iran have shifted significantly over the course of the conflict.He's moved from maximalist demands for unconditional surrender by the theocratic government to a focus on economic pressure, containing Tehran's nuclear program and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.Iran's economy is certainly in shambles.
Its navy and air force have been devastated, and key political and military leaders were killed in the first weeks of the conflict.Yet, Iran has shown no small measure of resilience in the face of Trump's repeatedly being on the cusp of ordering big new strikes — only to back down at the last moment.After months of grinding war, an American election season isn't fundamentally changing Iran's approach with the U.S. leader they've found to be an unreliable narrator, said Sasan Karimi, a former Iran…
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