The bombshell news of Trump’s declaration came via Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo (Image: Getty)
Donald Trump stunned the world on Tuesday by declaring the Iran war finished — even as his administration scrambles to arrange a second round of peace talks that have yet to be scheduled.
The bombshell came via Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo, who had spent the evening at the White House conducting an interview with the president. When asked if the war was over, Trump replied: “I think it’s close to over, yes. I view it as very close to over. If I pulled up sticks now, it would take them close to 20-years to rebuild that country.”
In a teaser clip posted after she left, Bartiromo recounted the exchange that stopped her in her tracks.
“I said, ‘Is it over?’ He said, ‘It’s over,'” she told her followers.
The question of whether that declaration reflects reality is complicated by what is happening behind the scenes. American officials are working to send JD Vance back to Islamabad for another attempt at a negotiated settlement — though no date has been fixed.
“Further talks are under discussion, but nothing has been scheduled at this time,” one US official told CNN.
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Iran-US peace talks
Vance had led the first round of talks in Pakistan on Saturday, sitting across the table from Iranian counterparts during the fragile two-week ceasefire.
The discussions ended without agreement after Tehran insisted on retaining the ability to enrich uranium for two decades — a demand Washington could not accept.
Backchannels have remained open, reports the Daily Mail. A team including Vance, presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner has been working through intermediaries to keep the diplomatic process alive, CNN reported.
Trump, meanwhile, had hinted at movement even before his declaration, suggesting to the New York Post that “something could be happening” before the ceasefire window closed.
Options on the table
The declaration of victory sits awkwardly alongside reports that the administration had been drawing up contingency plans for every scenario short of peace. Three approaches had been under consideration.
The most restrained would see Washington hold its fire militarily while keeping a formidable presence in the region — pressure without escalation.
A more assertive path involved precision strikes on specific targets: Iran’s nuclear programme, its ballistic missile capabilities and its energy sector. The most aggressive scenario contemplated going further still — a sustained campaign designed not just to degrade but to bring down the regime itself, with strikes reaching into the highest levels of Iranian leadership.
Reporting by the Wall Street Journal suggested Trump had little appetite for returning to full-scale bombardment, concerned that doing so would set the wider region alight. That risk has been sharpened by the economic consequences of his own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway that carries a fifth of global oil supply — which is already squeezing American consumers and unsettling financial markets.