Trump says Iran decision will come very soon
The line echoes statements Trump has made since late September, none of which has been followed by a signed deal or a confirmed concession.
Published
Map: The Gulf and Hormuz, marking Strait of Hormuz
President Trump said a decision on Iran will be made very soon, without specifying what the decision concerns or when it will arrive.
He has used nearly identical language before. He said the same on September 29 and again on October 9, and neither statement was followed by a signed deal or a verified concession from Tehran. A retrospective by Barak Ravid on Trump's "two weeks" remark in June, when the decision in question had already been made, is often cited as the reason traders have stopped moving prices on these deadlines.
The statement comes as tensions around the Strait of Hormuz continue. Iran's IRGC says a third supertanker was struck in the strait in two days, after saying an earlier tanker had switched off its navigation system and ignored warnings while trying to leave the waterway. Iran's state news agency IRNA says a separate tanker caught fire in the eastern strait after allegedly violating sanctions. Mediation over Iran's war conditions is continuing, according to Rezaei, but no deal has been signed. Separately, Araghchi has said he offered Saudi mediation after Houthi strikes, though Riyadh's own confirmation of the call made no mention of a mediation offer.
The more consequential marker for markets remains the gap between the Pentagon's drafted strike plans and Trump's own stance that there will be no strike before the midterms, not another vague deadline statement. Without new detail on talks, sanctions or a strike order, Tuesday's remark reads as a repetition of past language rather than a shift in the standoff.