Trump predicts war with Iran will end ‘very soon,’ likely after midterms

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Leiter defended Israel’s ties to Judea and Samaria in an interview with Mark Levin, arguing the territory is central to Jewish history and Israel’s security.

“Jews were born in Judea,” Leiter said in an interview on Fox News’ “Life, Liberty & Levin.”

“You can contest the wisdom of this community here, this community there, but to claim that Jews are colonizers or occupiers of foreign territory when Jews are in Judea, that’s where Jews come from.”

Leiter was responding to criticism from the British government over Israeli policy in the West Bank, which Israelis commonly refer to by the biblical names Judea and Samaria.

“It’s always been Israel and always will be Israel,” Leiter said, while adding that violence by either Palestinians or Israelis must be addressed and that “gratuitous violence is never acceptable.”

A 33-year-old Iranian blogger has been sentenced to death over accusations that she insulted Iran’s supreme leader and acted against national security, according to a report from the New York Post.

Soda Ebrahimi Shamsabadi was charged with “corruption on earth” and accused of “media and propaganda activities against national security” and working “on behalf of hostile governments,” the Post reported.

The outlet, citing Iran International, said Shamsabadi was also punished for photographing the site of a missile strike and sending the image to a Persian-language media organization outside Iran.

Shamsabadi has been held in Bandar Abbas Prison since March and spent 20 days in solitary confinement, according to the report. Her final Instagram post before her detention read, “If one day I leave this world, just know one thing — I chose the path I believed in.”

Her case comes amid a surge in executions in Iran. The Post reported that at least 29 people arrested during January protests have been executed since March, citing Norway-based Iran Human Rights. 

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday that his country “won’t surrender,” accusing the United States of waging war on civilian infrastructure and restricting access to basic necessities.

“If Americans are warriors, let them face our valiant military forces,” Pezeshkian wrote on X. “Why wage war on civilian infrastructure, food supplies, and livelihoods?”

“If they’re human, why deny people access to water, food, and medicine?” he continued. “Our people can’t be bullied into submission. Iran won’t surrender.”

Pezeshkian has repeatedly argued that U.S. military and economic pressure is aimed at forcing the Iranian public into submission, while rejecting what he describes as attacks on civilian infrastructure.

U.S. fighter jets launched one after another from the USS George Washington in the Arabian Sea Saturday night as guided-missile destroyers formed a defensive shield around the aircraft carrier amid heightened Iranian attacks.

Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst reported from the flight deck as nighttime operations unfolded, with some details withheld in real time for security reasons.

The USS Shoup is one of four guided-missile destroyers helping protect the carrier, Yingst reported. The warship, crewed by just over 300 sailors, carries a range of weapons including Tomahawk missiles and helps coordinate defenses across the strike group.

“My ship is in charge of coordinating defense amongst the various other units,” an officer aboard the Shoup said, including allocating missiles or aircraft to identify and respond to potential threats.

“The crew is ready and equipped to respond as quickly as necessary,” the officer added.

Yingst said Iran has ramped up attacks on U.S. warships over the past week and a half and targeted the George Washington last weekend, keeping sailors and pilots on alert as operations continue.

“It is one after another here in the Arabian Sea,” Yingst said as another jet prepared to launch. “Things are changing very rapidly here.”

Iran-backed Houthi forces remain capable of mounting a significant advance along Yemen’s Red Sea coast despite Tehran’s diminished ability to support its proxy, retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. James “Spider” Marks said Saturday.

Marks said the Houthis have demonstrated “an immense amount of resilience” after years of fighting and retain weapons stockpiles and an ability to maintain and manufacture capabilities locally.

“The support from the IRGC in Iran … has been diminished considerably, obviously, as a result of Epic Fury,” Marks told Fox News. “But the stockpiles that the Houthis have and their ability to locally maintain and manufacture and get some capabilities together has not been diminished.”

“A push by the Houthis really should not surprise us,” he added.

The assessment comes after Houthi forces seized the strategic Yemeni port city of Mocha and pushed toward positions along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, threatening a critical shipping route connecting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Marks said Saudi Arabia faces the dual challenge of targeting deeply embedded Houthi forces while hardening its own infrastructure against future attacks.

He also pointed to the U.S. military presence near the Bab el-Mandeb and additional carrier capacity heading to the region, saying Washington would have greater ability to provide support if needed.

Sailors aboard the USS George Washington are on high alert in the Arabian Sea as Iran-backed Houthi forces advance along Yemen’s coast toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical gateway to the Red Sea.

Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst reported Saturday from aboard the aircraft carrier, where more than 5,000 sailors are supporting Operation Epic Fury amid continuing threats from Iran and its regional allies.

“The U.S. Navy remains on alert here aboard the USS George Washington,” Yingst said, noting that American warships in the region remain under threat from Iran.

Yingst also visited the guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup, one of several ships helping protect the carrier. The destroyer carries Tomahawk missiles and helps coordinate the strike group’s defenses against incoming threats.

“The crew is ready and equipped to respond as quickly as necessary,” a Navy officer aboard the Shoup said. “We stand ready to continue to do so.”

The heightened posture comes as Houthi forces have pushed toward positions near the Bab el-Mandeb, threatening another major global shipping chokepoint as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted.

Iran’s currency has plunged to a record low as fuel shortages and rising prices squeeze households and trigger strikes among transportation workers across the country, according to The Jerusalem Post.

The Iranian rial fell to roughly 2.3 million per U.S. dollar, the outlet reported, citing The Wall Street Journal, as the economic fallout from the war and the U.S. naval blockade weighs on Iran’s ability to import fuel and other goods.

Tehran this week doubled gasoline prices for drivers who exceed 110 liters per month after cutting monthly subsidies, according to the report.

The shortages have hit taxi, delivery and truck drivers particularly hard.About 120 taxi drivers in Kerman said fuel cuts were leaving them unable to work for roughly a third of each month, while drivers for Iranian ride-share and delivery giant Snapp have staged strikes in multiple cities, the report said.

“We’ve all stopped; no one is working,” one driver said in footage verified by Storyful.Truckers near the Iraqi border have also gone on strike, while drivers in Bandar Abbas have warned they could follow.

“The issue is that we can no longer bear these pressures,” truckers at the port said in a statement, according to the report.

An understanding between Iran and Oman does not call for the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, but instead lays out a framework under which the strategic waterway could eventually reopen, according to Reuters.

Reuters, citing an Iranian source who spoke to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, reported Saturday that any reopening would depend entirely on the United States meeting Tehran’s conditions.

The source said the arrangement would also represent a step toward Iran exercising sovereignty over the strait.

The report comes as Iranian officials continue to insist that Washington must meet Tehran’s demands before negotiations can resume, while U.S. forces maintain a blockade of Iranian ports.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said Saturday that American forces have redirected 100 commercial vessels over the past 60 days as part of the blockade and that “ZERO ships have passed through the blockade without U.S. forces allowing.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian insisted Saturday that his country is not at war with Saudi Arabia following an attack on a key oil pipeline, a report said.

“We are not at war with Saudi Arabia. The Houthis have their own issues,” Pezeshkian told India Today TV on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, according to Iran International.

“I have repeatedly said that all the countries of the region should sit down together and establish peace and security in the region,” Pezeshkian reportedly added. “There is no logic or reason for us to be at war or in conflict with one another.”

However, President Donald Trump said he suspects Iran is behind Friday’s attack on Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline. Iran supports Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have been clashing with Saudi Arabia.

Former NAVY Seal and author Jack Carr told Fox News’ “Saturday in America” that adversaries like China and Russia “have a vested interest in seeing us continue to get bogged down in the Middle East.” 

Carr made the comment after The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Iran obtained high-resolution satellite images from China of a U.S. military base in Jordan prior to an attack there in July that left three U.S. troops dead. 

“They are learning lessons. Russia, North Korea, China are all learning lessons from what we’re doing in Iran right now,” Carr said. “Have we learn to use our military effectively and efficiently? What do we take from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, applying those lessons going forward here? There’s a direct line between how we left Afghanistan, of course, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” 

“So now this is a very critical point right here. Can we get that political outcome that we want, all the things that we wanted in February in talks with Iran?” he added. “Can we get those through the application of military force? Or are we going to get bogged down again, which allows China and Russia specifically more freedom of movement to achieve their geopolitical goals.” 

Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the BRICS alliance Saturday to act as peacemakers in the Middle East, according to a report from Reuters. 

The war involving Iran “does not serve the common interests of the international community,” Xi reportedly said. 

The remarks come after Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that Tehran is seeking to strengthen coordination and expand cooperation with China as regional tensions continue to rise. 

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Iranian and Chinese leaders want their strategic partnership to advance the national interests of both countries, according to remarks carried by Iranian state television. 

The BRICS alliance was established in 2006 by founding members Brazil, Russia, India and China, and has since expanded to include nations such as Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.  

Fox News Digital’s Brittany Miller and Kyra Colah contributed to this post. 

An Iranian official declared Saturday that Iran will not return to the negotiating table with the U.S. until all of its terms are met. 

“As long as the American side does not accept all of Iran’s conditions, dialogue and negotiation are of no use,” Ebrahim Azizi, the chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, wrote on X. 

“No negotiations. Until Iran’s terms are met, talks are futile,” he added. 

Azizi did not elaborate on Iran’s conditions, but last month, Mohammad Baqer Zulqader, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, outlined six demands from Iran before the Strait of Hormuz can reopen. 

Zulqader said the U.S. must stop threatening Iran and insulting what he described as the country’s sanctities, end military action against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Yemen and Iraq, and lift the naval blockade. 

His remaining demands called for U.S. sea and air forces to withdraw from Iran, compensation for damages from two wars, the removal of sanctions against Iran and the unconditional release of frozen Iranian assets. 

Fox News Digital’s Brittany Miller contributed to this post. 

U.S. Central Command announced Saturday that the ongoing military blockade of Iranian ports has redirected 100 ships. 

“CENTCOM forces have redirected 100 commercial vessels over the past 60 days since America resumed the steel wall blockade against Iran,” it wrote on X. 

“ZERO ships have passed through the blockade without U.S. forces allowing,” CENTCOM added. “American service members remain laser focused on this mission.” 

Pakistan, a key mediator between the U.S. and Iran during Operation Epic Fury, said Saturday that it “strongly condemns” the drone attacks that targeted the Saudi Arabia East-West oil pipeline. 

The country’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying the “reprehensible drone attacks” caused damage to the pipeline and “injuries to civilians.” 

“Pakistan has been and will continue to make earnest efforts for achieving lasting peace and stability in the region,” it added. 

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he suspects Iran was responsible for the attack on the Saudi pipeline.

Iraq shut down two border crossings into Iran on Saturday after officials in a province bordering Iran determined that the attack against a Saudi oil pipeline was launched from that area, a report said.

Iraq’s state-run news agency reported that Iraqi officials were at the border, investigating previous “violations and infractions” at the crossings, according to The Associated Press.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said earlier Saturday that he’d ordered an investigation into the operations command of Maysan province and dismissed the province’s commander. His office later said the provincial police chief was also dismissed.

Saudi Arabia shut down the major, cross-country East-West oil pipeline on Friday, saying it was a “precautionary measure.”

The Saudi Foreign Ministry blamed the attacks on several drones that came from Iraq and, in a statement, said the kingdom would not retaliate to give the Iraqi government “an opportunity to take the necessary measures.”

Authorities determined that attacks targeting Saudi Arabia were launched from a site in Maysan province, the AP reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this post. 

U.S. Central Command released new images Saturday showing U.S. Marines training on the flight deck of the USS Portland, an amphibious transport dock ship, as it sailed in the Arabian Sea. 

American military assets remained stationed around the Middle East Saturday as CENTCOM is enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports. 

CENTCOM said earlier this month that “more than 50,000 U.S. service members are currently operating across the Middle East and remain vigilant, lethal, and prepared to continue executing operations directed by the Commander in Chief.” 

Bahrain said Saturday that the targeting of Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline is an “attack on vital civilian infrastructure affecting the security of energy supplies.” 

“The Kingdom of Bahrain strongly condemned the targeting of the East-West oil pipeline in the Riyadh and Madinah regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by drones launched from Iraqi territory, which resulted in injuries and property damage,” the Bahrain News Agency said. 

“In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the attack as a blatant violation of international law, the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of good neighborliness, as well as an attack on vital civilian infrastructure affecting the security of energy supplies,” it added. 

The Bahrain News Agency cited the foreign ministry as calling “on the international community to assume its responsibilities in confronting such attacks that seek to undermine energy security and destabilize regional security and stability.” 

President Donald Trump said Saturday that the world is seeing how powerful the U.S. military is during the war with Iran. 

“Everyone is seeing the dominance of the American military equipment all over the planet. And you see it now with Iran. We took over the Hormuz Strait. We cleared out all the mines,” Trump said while visiting Ireland. 

“Even I said, ‘well, how come they’re not shooting down our minesweepers?’ ‘Sir, these minesweepers are underwater. They work underwater at all times,’” Trump continued. “I say, ‘why do you do that?’ ‘Well, generally speaking, when there’s mines, there’s a lot of hostility outside.’ You know, I said ‘that makes sense, right’? In other words, if there are mines in some water way, generally speaking, when you see there are mines or people shooting at you. So if you’re underwater, they don’t know you’re there.” 

“But we knocked out and we took out every mine. There’s no mines in there, no nothing,” the president added.  

The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program on Friday announced rewards of up to $10 million for information leading to several senior al-Qaeda leaders the U.S. says are based in Iran.

The announcement, released on the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, names Sayf al-Adl, Abd al-Rahman al-Maghrebi and Yasin al-Suri among those sought.

“These individuals are senior leaders within al-Qaida, which utilizes Iran as a safe haven to execute violent attacks against the United States and its allies,” the Rewards for Justice program said in a post on X.

The agency said anyone with information on the men can submit tips through its secure reporting channels and may be eligible for monetary rewards and relocation assistance.

The announcement comes as the Trump administration continues to increase pressure on Iran through military operations, sanctions and efforts to target the country’s financial and energy networks.

Yesterday’s Fox News Digital live blog offers additional coverage of the conflict with Iran.

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he believes Iran is behind attacks that forced the closure of Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline. 

Saudi Arabia said Friday that drones launched from Iraqi territory struck the East-West Pipeline, prompting the kingdom to shut down the critical oil artery as a precaution. 

“I think they are, probably they are,” Trump said in Ireland on Saturday when asked if he thinks Iran is responsible for the attacks, which come as Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen are clashing with Saudi Arabia. 

“The Houthis called us and they don’t want to fight with us. They let us know, they don’t want  to fight with us…they don’t want us to go after them,” Trump added. “But they have called and they have talked to us, and they don’t want us to, they would much prefer not having us involved.”

Fox News Digital’s Brittany Miller contributed to this post.

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he thinks the war with Iran will end “very soon,” likely after the midterms, while accusing Tehran of trying to prolong the conflict to “complicate the election.”

“I think very soon, I think it will be, probably, right after the midterms,” Trump said in Ireland when asked if he would put an end date to the conflict. 

“They are trying to hold out as long as they can to complicate the election but I think people are wise to it because Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. It’s very simple.” 

“They were two weeks away from having a nuclear weapon. If they had it, they would have blown up Israel, they would have blown up the Middle East, and they would have hit some of Europe’s, in my opinion, Europe’s cities and beyond cities,” Trump also said. “And they would have probably hit us too before we put out the fire. But they cannot have a nuclear weapon.”