By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he hoped an end to the war against Iran was near and a media report separately said he is expected to meet Gulf leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday to discuss the conflict.
His comments come with the Iran war in its seventh month and with no immediate end in sight.
Axios reported late on Wednesday Trump’s meeting with Gulf leaders next week in New York is expected to focus on US plans for a postwar strategy.
The report cited unnamed sources. It added that Trump will meet with leaders or foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.
The State Department and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.
“Well, hopefully we are towards the end of the war,” Trump told reporters earlier in the evening.
“They want to make a deal. We’ll see how that works out,” he said on Iran, reiterating past comments. Trump also said he had heard from Iran “directly,” without elaborating.
Trump has offered shifting goals and timelines for the war that began on February 28 when the US and Israel attacked Iran and Tehran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host US bases.
US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.
Trump has cited weakening Iran’s nuclear capabilities as one of his war objectives. Iran does not have nuclear weapons and says its uranium enrichment program is for peaceful purposes. The US is nuclear-armed.
The rise in oil and gas prices due to the US-Israeli war on Iran has become a major issue for Trump’s Republican Party in the lead-up to the November midterm elections.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Christian Martinez; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
