The Iran war could drag on through the remainder of US President Donald Trump's term, potentially lasting until January 2029, White House advisers have privately warned the Republican leader, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials.
Senior aides such as Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others have raised concerns that Iran could continue to resist US pressure, forcing a prolonged conflict that spans past the next presidential inauguration.
The report stands in contrast to what Trump said on Wednesday about the Iran war ending "immediately" after the US votes in midterm elections in November.
Trump Says Iran War Will End "Immediately" After US Midterm Votes
"I think the war will end immediately after the election" because Iran "can't hold out any longer," Trump told journalists, accusing Tehran of being "desperate to try and affect" the vote.
US officials told The Journal that Trump does speak about getting a quick resolution to the war that has claimed the lives of 18 US soldiers and is on its seventh month. However, he also supports the new US strategy against Iran called "Operation Economic Outcast", which is a long term economic siege to force the Islamic Republic into dismantling its nuclear programme.
A previous Wall Street Journal report stated that Trump is privately discussing with his senior aides about declaring the Iran war over as he believes that the economic pressure might force the Islamic Republic to take apart its nuclear programme.
"I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing. They are just playing out the inevitable. When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?" Trump wrote on social media.
US Troops Prepare For 2027 Deployment
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is extending deployment of US troops in the Middle East into 2027, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.
The report states that what was originally presented by Hegseth as a short, decisive military campaign against Iran has grown exponentially. Now the US has about 50,000 troops, 19 warships, fighter squadrons, air defence units, and paratroopers in the Middle East.
Read | Trump's Iran War Takes Dark Turn
The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, stated that warship crews, air defence units and paratroopers are being ordered to stay in the war torn region for longer than expected.
The deployment of army air defenders has shifted from nine to 12 months and units that had been ordered to move to the Middle East from Europe and the Pacific have been deployed in the region for more than a year.
Iran's "Pay A Cost" Warning
Last month, a senior Iranian military officer said that Tehran could "prolong" its war with Trump just to send a message that "there is a cost" of attacking Iran.
"The longer this war lasts, the more experience we gain. We had never seen a real war to gain real experience to learn how to fight with America. In these five months, we have learned how," Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a close aide of Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said in a rare interview with US broadcaster PBS.
Read | Mideast War To Continue Till Trump's Term Ends?
The war in the Middle East broke out when the US and Israeli forces conducted joint strikes on Iran on February 28, killing a swath of the country's leadership, including the then 86-year-old Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. In response, the Iranian forces attacked American and Israeli assets in the Middle East.
Asked if Iran's objective is to drag out this war till Trump is out of office, Naqdi said, "We have to attain deterrence so that the enemy never dares to attack us so we can live with security. One way is to prolong this war until we get to the next term of the presidency and cause attrition so that if anyone else wants to attack Iran, they will know there is a cost."
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