United States President Donald J Trump takes questions in the Oval Office on July 21, 2026. Photo: Aaron Schwartz/POOL via CNP/INST via Reuters Connect.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US will not launch an attack on Iran before November‘s US midterm congressional elections, asserting that the two countries are having “productive” talks about ending the six-month-old war.

“We are having productive discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “We will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the midterm elections to be held in the United States on November 3rd.”

During the early weeks of the war, the US and Israel destroyed much of Iran’s navy, air force, and military-industrial base for its drone and missile programs. More recently, a US naval blockade has largely cut off Iran’s oil exports and crippled its economy, leading some experts to predict a total financial collapse and the regime’s possible demise if conditions do not change.

However, the war, which began in late February when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, has helped drive Trump‘s domestic approval ratings downward and is weighing heavily on his fellow Republicans as they seek to preserve their narrow legislative majorities in November‘s election.

Some 60% of Americans — including one in four Republicans — disapprove of how Trump is handling the situation in Iran, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. The conflict has pushed gasoline prices sharply higher at a time when voters say their top concern is the cost of living.

Trump has repeatedly said he expects oil prices to drop after the elections, but he has not offered a detailed plan for exiting the war.

Iran and the US 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.

Shipping data showed the number of vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz fell to the lowest in more than two months after attacks on tankers in the key waterway reached their highest last week since the start of the war.

Seven commodity vessels passed through the strait on Tuesday, for the lowest figure since July 23, according to data from analytics firm Kpler.

Iran‘s state media reported on Thursday that Tehran would not abandon uranium enrichment or hand over its uranium stockpile, citing the head of the country’s Atomic Energy Organization, days after US Vice President JD Vance told Reuters that Iran must make “meaningful” reductions in its enrichment capacity.

The US, Israel, and Western allies have long accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, an accusation Iran has denied.