Trump Says US Doesn't Need an Iran Deal, Leaving Mideast Guessing

President Donald Trump declared Thursday that the U.S. no longer needs an agreement with Tehran and ordered Vice President JD Vance — his chief negotiator in earlier peace talks — to turn his full attention to the administration's domestic anti-fraud campaign. In the same breath, he warned Iran that the U.S. military is «locked and loaded» and watching Pickaxe Mountain, a facility tied to Iran's nuclear program. «If something does not work out, I would not hesitate» to act, Trump told conservative broadcaster Hugh Hewitt.

The pivot landed days after Trump huddled with Qatar's prime minister at the White House and told reporters the war «militarily is effectively over,» calling new major strikes highly unlikely. The day after the midterms, he acknowledged the 8-month-old conflict and the global economic turmoil it caused were partly to blame for Republican losses. Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey wasn't impressed: «President Trump is now acting like an arsonist who has set ablaze our foreign policy,» he said Friday in Denver. «And now he just wants to walk away.»

Qatar keeps trying to broker an interim deal that would restore traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for Persian Gulf oil and gas. Two Middle East diplomats familiar with the process, speaking anonymously, said things looked on track after the Qatari prime minister's visit — until Trump's Thursday post created «a sense of limbo.» One diplomat questioned why Trump appeared to sideline Vance, who had been weighing reengagement with senior Iranian negotiators, according to a person familiar with the matter. Trump posted his message the morning after The Wall Street Journal reported that Vance was considering resuming talks; the president believed the Iranians weren't acting in good faith, that person said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio argued Friday that economic pressure is doing the job. «The economic pain that we are inflicting on that regime is so great that there's no need for military action,» he told the Federalist Society, adding the U.S. isn't opposed to mediators but won't sign «a stupid deal.» Iran's deputy U.N. ambassador, Gholamhossein Darzi, told the Security Council on Friday that Tehran «has never closed the door to diplomacy,» while warning of an «immediate and decisive response» if the U.S. or Israel resumes bombing. Iran won't negotiate over its nuclear program until Washington accepts core conditions it wants in any ceasefire. The U.N. reports October saw the most incidents against commercial ships in the contested waters since February, even as oil shipments through the strait near prewar levels.

Trump flies to the Philippines and the APEC meetings in Shenzhen next week, where he'll hold an unprecedented three-way summit with China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin. Iran and the three powers' nuclear stockpiles are expected on the agenda. The White House declined to comment on his postelection rhetoric.

Michael Singh of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy expects the stalemate to drag on, with the U.S. naval blockade curbing Iranian crude exports and economic squeeze proving more attractive to Trump than escalation or concessions. «It's probably the most sensible path as well to sort of be patient, keep the pressure on, allow the mediators to keep doing their work,» said Singh, a Middle East hand in George W. Bush's White House. He added Trump could always reverse himself on Vance engaging — once the Iranians are ready to seriously negotiate.