Trump says 'not looking to kill lots of people' in Iran

Trump says 'not looking to kill lots of people' in Iran after midterms WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is "not looking to kill lots of people" in Iran following the midterm elections, while warning that Washington would take decisive action if necessary. "Look, I'm not looking to, you know, kill lots of people, but if we have to, we'll have to," Trump told Fox News amid reports that the US was weighing strikes on Iran following the polling. Trump said American forces struck a newly completed Iranian anti-aircraft installation overnight after monitoring its construction for over two months. "Just a minor attack. It wasn't war." Citing a US official, local media reported that the US military carried out "defensive" strikes against Iran's Qeshm Island on Monday. The US president argued that the confrontation with Iran differs from traditional wars such as the Russia-Ukraine war or World War II, asserting that Washington holds total leverage over Tehran after crippling its naval and air assets during the ongoing Iran war. "We have them totally where we want. We could finish them off, or we could be nice and let thousands of people live that would get killed in a war," he said. IRGC claims shooting down two more US drones The US carried out strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, a US official said on Monday. The strikes, earlier reported by the Wall Street Journal, appeared to be limited and were not a resumption of major combat operations, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Another official said the strikes were defensive measures against Iranians using surface-to-air missiles against US assets. The Pentagon referred a request for comment to the US Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East. CENTCOM did not respond to requests for comment. Earlier on Monday, Iranian state media outlet IRNA reported that there were several explosions on Qeshm Island. The Journal reported that the attack was the latest in a series of strikes carried out by Washington in recent weeks. Fox News, citing officials, said the strikes were defensive and carried out in response to Iran firing at a US aircraft. Iran's state news agency IRNA reported five explosions on Qeshm Island, located in the Strait of Hormuz. Separately, the semi-official Fars news agency said explosions were heard coming from the direction of the sea in Bandar Lengeh in Hormozgan province. The cause of the explosions was not immediately known. Neither agency provided details on casualties or damage. The reports come amid continued diplomatic efforts between Tehran and Washington over tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Monday that the two countries were continuing to exchange messages through mediators. He confirmed that Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi had visited Doha to facilitate the exchanges through Qatari mediation. Iran delivers 'firm, rational' response to US, says 'ball in America's court to prevent war' Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tuesday that Tehran has delivered a 'firm and rational' response to Washington, stressing that the US must now decide whether to prevent another war. Speaking during a parliamentary session, Ghalibaf, who is also leading Iran's negotiating team in talks with the US, said Tehran remained prepared for both diplomacy and military confrontation. 'Iran has delivered a firm and rational response to the American side, and now the ball is in America's court to prevent war,' he said. He stressed that Iran's armed forces remained at the highest level of defensive readiness. 'If Washington makes another strategic mistake, it should know that this time it will face a new battlefield and will find itself even more desperate to seek a way out,' he warned. Ghalibaf also accused the US of pursuing a longstanding policy aimed at dominating Iran, saying Washington had previously relied on compliant governments but now employed military, economic and psychological warfare. He said Iran would not surrender to military threats, warning that any miscalculation by Washington would trigger an unpredictable response. Ghalibaf added that Iran's military response to any renewed attack would not be limited by geographical boundaries. Iran's foreign minister says talks with Saudi Arabia are ongoing; Yemen fighting intensifies Talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia are ongoing as Tehran aims to reach new regional security arrangements for countries in the region without foreign military involvement, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X on Tuesday. Last week, top officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met Iranian officials in Tehran, the first high-level contact between Iran and the three nations since August. The US-Israeli war on Iran started in late February, and since then, fighting has spread to Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Riyadh said the visit was intended to open negotiating channels to "prevent the return of military escalation," as fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis had intensified in recent weeks. Houthi attacks on the kingdom escalated as the powerful militia advanced towards the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key shipping chokepoint that lies on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz. The Houthis have also attacked Saudi oil facilities and airports, including Riyadh's international airport, disrupting flights and oil exports and drawing Saudi airstrikes on Yemen in response. Impoverished Yemen has been mired in a civil war since the Houthis pushed the internationally recognised, Saudi-backed government out of the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.