Trump says war with Iran is effectively over militarily amid calls to resume it
Key Facts
U.S. President Donald Trump said on November 9 that the war with Iran was "effectively over militarily," adding that Washington was maintaining the status quo, putting calls to resume operations attributed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against a stated push for de-escalation. The Times of Israel cited a Financial Times report saying a source familiar with the matter said Netanyahu called Trump every day to urge him to resume the war. The source added, according to the same account, that opponents of the war inside and outside the White House were trying to counter that effort. The quotation could not be verified in the accessible text of the Financial Times report, so the account of the calls and positions attributed to the parties remains based on the source cited by the Israeli newspaper. Trump’s remarks on the status quo were reported by the Associated Press.
Trump said Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait favored maintaining the status quo, pointing to a regional position in favor of continued calm rather than an expansion of the confrontation. The Times of Israel cited the same source as saying regional leaders were asking Trump not to escalate and to prioritize negotiations. That places the reported pressure from Netanyahu within a broader dispute over the course Washington should take, between resuming fighting and continuing diplomatic efforts. In the same context, Trump said he saw positive momentum and a good chance to end the war, while U.S. forces remained ready to act if circumstances changed. The available information did not report market moves or price data linked to these positions.
Trump made his remarks after meeting at the White House with Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, whose country has emerged as a mediator in proposals to address the dispute with Iran. According to an Associated Press report published on November 9, the Qatari proposals concern Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran says that before entering nuclear talks, the U.S. blockade of its ports must end, sanctions must be lifted and its assets released, along with compensation for war damage and an end to hostilities in the region. Those demands link the path to negotiations to issues extending beyond the nuclear file, including economic restrictions and regional fighting. Trump said a resumption of strikes was highly unlikely if negotiations made progress and a strong agreement was signed.
The November 9 remarks followed new, limited U.S. strikes on Iran on November 6, which Trump said targeted an air defense system and described as "minor." At the time, Iran was reviewing Qatari proposals to address its dispute with the United States over its nuclear program, while an official said Tehran did not want to negotiate before its conditions for a ceasefire were met. Regional officials told the Associated Press that a phased Qatari proposal called for confidence-building measures, including lifting the U.S. blockade and releasing some frozen Iranian funds. In return, the proposal would allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to enter sites bombed by the United States and Israel. The International Atomic Energy Agency estimated Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity at about 440.9 kilograms, according to an Associated Press report on November 6.
Trump’s contacts with Netanyahu have previously coincided with U.S. consideration of resuming strikes; on November 1, The Times of Israel cited a Wall Street Journal report saying the presidents spoke by phone in that context. Trump told reporters at the time that the United States wanted to deal with one or two additional sites in Iran. On the diplomatic track, Iranian and Qatari talks took place in Doha on November 1, after envoys from the two countries had spent more than 12 hours in talks in Tehran the previous day. The report said those efforts aimed to avert renewed fighting after the U.S. midterm elections. It also said Iran had repeatedly warned that it would respond to any new attacks by targeting U.S. and Israeli sites in neighboring countries, keeping the risk of a wider confrontation in the background of the negotiations.