AMMAN — US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he expected the war with Iran to end soon, despite reports that Washington and Israel were considering a new round of strikes against the country.

 

“It's going to get wrapped up soon,” Trump said in an interview with a Kansas City radio station while campaigning ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.

 

“We need a guarantee there'll never be a nuclear weapon,” he added.

 

Trump has said the United States would not launch strikes against Iran before the elections, as the conflict has emerged as a key issue in the campaign.

 

His remarks come amid renewed diplomatic efforts in the region to end the confrontation, alongside reports of a possible fresh military campaign against Iran after the midterm elections.

 

The Wall Street Journal reported that Adm. Brad Cooper, the senior US military commander overseeing the Middle East, met Trump at the White House on Thursday to present military options concerning Iran.

 

The conflict has increasingly crntred on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran sought to disrupt energy exports from the region in response to the initial US-Israeli attacks.

 

Washington has established a protected shipping route through the strategic waterway, allowing oil shipments to return to pre-war levels despite continued Iranian attacks. The United States has also said its blockade has completely halted Iranian oil exports.

 

Cooper, head of the Pentagon's Central Command, said on Friday that he had seen no Iranian military presence during a recent flight over the Strait of Hormuz.

 

“Iran's Navy is all at the bottom of the sea,” he said in a video.

 

“I saw dozens of commercial vessels transiting. All types. Cargo, crude oil, liquid natural gas, or LNG,” Cooper said.

 

“I didn't see the IRGC out there, at all,” he added, referring to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

 

Cooper said US forces were working to keep shipping lanes in the strait free of Iranian sea mines following a major operation to remove the devices.