![\"U.S.](\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/theme\/images\/th-online\/1x1_spacer.png\" "\\"U.S.")
<\/picture><\/div>\nU.S. President Donald Trump on Monday (November 9, 2026) told reporters he believes the war in Iran \u201cmilitarily is effectively over.\u201d<\/p>\n
The President made a surprise visit to the White House briefing room after meeting with Qatar\u2019s Prime Minister earlier in the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIran militarily is effectively over,\u201d Mr. Trump said. \u201cWe\u2019re just keeping it the status quo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr, Trump added that Iran has been \u201cdecapitated\u201d but said he is still looking to make sure there\u2019s a long-term solution to ensuring that Iran\u2019s nuclear program is defanged.<\/p>\n
The President offered some of his most definitive comments about moving away from his threat to resume strikes on Iran after the U.S. midterm elections passed.<\/p>\n
The President\u2019s Republican Party lost both chambers of Congress to Democrats in last week\u2019s elections. The election was shadowed by dissatisfaction among the American electorate over the eight-month-old war, which has led to a surge in fuel prices that\u2019s impacted nearly ever sector of the global economy.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump at his news conference added that there was \u201cpositive momentum\u201d toward ending the war without going into detail.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe military action doesn\u2019t seem to be a very necessary thing, but we\u2019re locked and loaded, ready to go for any reason that changes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump told CNN<\/i> in a phone interview on Sunday (November 8, 2026) that as long as the U.S. sees progress in negotiations with the Iranians and they sign a \u201cstrong agreement,\u201d it\u2019s \u201chighly unlikely it\u2019s going to be necessary\u201d to resume strikes.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump said, however, that the U.S. had identified infrastructure targets, including 38 bridges, that it would strike if military action resumes.<\/p>\n
The U.S. military, meanwhile, still has carried out limited strikes on Iran, including against its air defences, at least twice over the past week. It also fired on and disabled a commercial ship on Saturday (November 7, 2026) that the U.S. says was trying to breach its naval blockade on Iranian ports.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n