Trump Promises No Iran Strikes Before the Midterms, and Tehran Says It Will Answer “Within a Few Days”

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States “will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections to be held in the United States on November 3rd,” according to CBS News’ live coverage of his Truth Social post. Earlier the same day, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the Students News Network, “I think we will respond within a few days.” CBS News tied the remark to Tehran’s reply to American feedback on its seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The Associated Press listed what the pledge leaves in place: a Navy blockade that is halting Iranian oil exports, night-time tanker escorts through the strait and a third carrier on its way. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, quoted by Anadolu, answered the blockade as he left for Turkmenistan.

This piece follows Wednesday’s account of Trump’s remarks on the deal and the Putin and Pezeshkian meeting Moscow offered to host.

Trump put November 3 on a resumption of strikes, and AP reported the blockade continuing. Araghchi told the Students News Network that Iran will respond “within a few days.” Pezeshkian said Iran has 15 neighboring countries. CBS News noted that he is due to meet Vladimir Putin on Friday.

Trump’s pledge came in a Truth Social post on Thursday. He added that his team has been “having productive discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” AP reported. At a San Antonio rally the day before, per the same report, he said of a deal: “I think the deal isn’t really something that I want to do, but they’re willing to offer us anything to stop.” AP also reported him saying that envoy Steve Witkoff had continued indirect talks with Iranian officials.

Araghchi’s remark came earlier on Thursday, CBS News reported. AP reported that Iran said last week it had received a US counterproposal, and that talks stalled after Trump publicly rejected Iran’s offer to reopen the strait within seven days if American conditions were met.

On Wednesday in Athens, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters, in CBS News’ account: “The Straits of Hormuz are open.” He added: “So they’ve lost complete control of the Straits.”

Pezeshkian spoke to journalists on Thursday before flying to a Commonwealth of Independent States summit and a Caspian meeting in Turkmenistan. In the English translation carried by Anadolu, citing state broadcaster IRIB, he said: “They cannot isolate us so easily because we have 15 neighboring countries in the region.” Press TV’s translation renders the line as “The enemies cannot easily blockade Iran, because Iran has 15 neighboring countries.” It adds that “through each of these routes, economic, trade, political and security exchanges can continue.” Anadolu’s version says isolate. Press TV’s says blockade.

In a Fox News interview reported on 11 September, Trump said of a full attack: “Well, maybe I don’t do that because of the election.” On Thursday the election appeared in his post as a date.

AP’s inventory of what continues sits beside that date. The blockade stays, AP reported, and Central Command escorts tankers through the strait with their location systems switched off. The USS Theodore Roosevelt, a third carrier, could reach the region as early as the end of October, according to AP. The USS Abraham Lincoln was due home in San Diego on Thursday after a record-long deployment. The Roosevelt’s possible arrival comes before November 3.

Araghchi gave no date, only “within a few days.” AP reported that the reply concerns a plan Trump publicly rejected last month, and that Iran received the American feedback last week. Trump’s post sets November 3 as the date before which no strikes will come.

Rubio’s Athens line sits beside AP’s shipping data. He said the strait is open. AP reported that Iran has recently increased attacks on tankers, and that overall ship traffic, LNG shipments and fuel shipments remain well below prewar levels. Some tanker operators under American protection charge $1 million or more a day, AP reported, citing shipping analysts. Gulf pipelines that bypass the strait let Gulf states export oil at nearly prewar levels, according to the same report.

Giorgio Cafiero wrote in Amwaj Media on Thursday that an immediate closure of routes running through Iran is unlikely, but that the costs and risks of using them will rise. Amwaj also reported that an Iranian passenger flight bound for Tajikistan was turned back late last month after Turkmen authorities, under US pressure, refused it airspace. Pezeshkian flew to Turkmenistan on Thursday.

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf set Iran’s own conditions for the strait earlier this week, as Silent Dossier reported. Trump’s post does not mention them.

CBS News noted that Pezeshkian is due to meet Putin on Friday. Araghchi has said the reply will come within days. Its content will show whether Iran accepts the American order of steps or restates its own seven-day sequence. The Roosevelt’s arrival and Election Day on November 3 are the dated markers.

The pledge covers strikes alone. If Iran’s answer reopens the strait, the pause becomes a deal. If it does not, Trump will decide on strikes after the vote, with his words of 11 September and Thursday on the record.