U.S. will not attack Iran before midterm elections in November, Trump says

Open this photo in gallery:President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Wednesday.Eric Gay/The Associated PressU.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday the United States is having productive discussions with Iran and will not launch an attack on the country before US midterm congressional elections in November.“We are having productive discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. He said the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remains in effect and that oil is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz.“We will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections to be held in the United States on Nov. 3,” Trump said.The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran in February and the war – and its US$3-billion monthly price tag – has become a key issue on the US campaign trail.Trump has repeatedly said he expected oil prices to drop sharply after the elections, but high gas prices and the Iran war are weighing heavily on Republican candidates and threatening their congressional majority.Iran and the U.S. have exchanged proposals in recent weeks aimed at ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global energy shipping route. Trump rejected Tehran’s latest offer.