Trump says US will not attack Iran before midterm elections in November

WASHINGTON,- President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US will not launch an attack on Iran ​before November’s US midterm congressional elections, asserting that the two countries are ‌having “productive” talks about ending the six-month-old war. “We are having productive discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “We will not be attacking Iran ​at any time prior to the midterm elections to be held in ​the United States on November 3rd.” The Misinformation Monitor newsletter rounds up international misinformation narratives, with a “Real or Fake?” quiz in every edition. Sign up here.

The war, which began in ⁠February when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, has helped ​drive Trump’s domestic approval ratings downward and is weighing heavily on his fellow ​Republicans as they seek to preserve their narrow legislative majorities in November’s election.

Some 60% of Americans — including one in four Republicans — disapprove of how Trump is handling the situation in ​Iran, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. The conflict has pushed gasoline ​prices sharply higher at a time when voters say their top concern is the cost ‌of ⁠living.

Trump has repeatedly said he expects oil prices to drop after the elections, but he has not offered a detailed plan for exiting the war.

Iran’s state media reported on Thursday that Tehran would not ​abandon uranium enrichment or hand over its uranium stockpile, citing ​the head ⁠of the country’s Atomic Energy Organization, days after US Vice President JD Vance told Reuters that Iran must make “meaningful” reductions in its enrichment capacity. The US, Israel ⁠and Western ​allies have long accused Iran of seeking nuclear ​weapons, an accusation Iran has denied.