Trump Says Iran War Will End After Midterms, Warns of Pickaxe Mountain Strike

President Donald Trump has said he expects the war with Iran to conclude immediately after the November US midterm elections, while repeating a threat to strike a site tied to Iran's nuclear programme. The remarks came after both sides exchanged their largest wave of attacks on shipping since the conflict began six months ago.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said Tehran was trying to sway the midterms, which will decide whether his Republican Party keeps control of Congress. "I think war is going to end immediately after the election because they can't hold out any longer. They're desperate to try and affect the election," he said. He has set deadlines for the war's end before.

Trump also said Washington may hit Iran's Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified location housing two deeply buried tunnel complexes near the damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility. "We notice there's a little activity at Pickaxe. I would advise Iran not to get cute because we will have to hit them very hard," he said at a midterm Republican convention. He has been threatening strikes on the site since at least mid-July.

The US and Israel launched military strikes on Iran in February, partly over concerns about Tehran's nuclear programme. Iran says its nuclear activities are peaceful.

Iran said it attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, after the US sank five Iranian oil tankers. The tit-for-tat strikes have dimmed prospects for a quick end to hostilities. Recent US claims of success in guiding tankers through the strait, which carried about a fifth of oil supplies before the war, appear to have been set back. Preliminary ship-tracking data showed just seven vessels transited the strait on Wednesday, half the 10-day average.

Brent crude prices stayed above $100 a barrel as supply routes through both the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea remained heavily disrupted. The war and rising fuel prices have pushed Trump's popularity to record lows.

A second front has escalated between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis. Saudi civil defence authorities issued emergency alerts in the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait for the fourth time in 24 hours before an all-clear on Thursday. The Saudi-led coalition said at least 73 people were wounded in four southern Saudi cities in recent Houthi attacks on the world's largest oil exporter. The Houthis said they struck an air base in Khamis Mushait and oil infrastructure in nearby cities, one of their biggest attacks on Saudi Arabia since the war began.

Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that top White House advisers, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have privately warned Trump the conflict could last through the rest of his presidency, which ends in January 2029. The report could not be immediately verified.