Iran Says ‘The Ball is in the U.S. Court’ to End War and Reopen Strait of Hormuz, But Nuclear War is on the Table – The Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that “the ball” was firmly in the United States’ “court” on ending the ongoing conflict and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking to reporters during a press conference, Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said, “The ball is in the U.S. court, since our demands have been stated quite clearly. No final deal can be concluded, and the Strait of Hormuz cannot be reopened in a safe state unless the naval blockade is lifted and Iran’s demands are met.”
Donald Trump Rally in 2024 Election. Creative Commons Photo.
Donald Trump at Rally Creative Commons Photo
White House Reportedly Considering a Nuclear Strike Against Iran? That’s What Tucker Carlson Is Saying
On Sunday, just a week after unnamed U.S. officials told CNN that the president was “leaning toward” carrying out major strikes against Iran following the midterm elections, former Trump ally and Fox News host Tucker Carlson warned that the White House was considering an unprecedented nuclear attack on Iranian soil.
“Under pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Trump administration may be within days of launching a nuclear strike on Iran,” wrote Carlson in a social media post, citing an unnamed source with knowledge of the situation. “The target would be Pickax Mountain in central Iran, where Israeli intelligence claims the Iranian government has restarted its nuclear enrichment program.”
A Nuclear Attack Has Not Been Carried Out Since 1945 and Would Likely Spark WW3
A nuclear weapon has not been used against another country since the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II in 1945.
It is plausible that such a strike would spark the beginning of another world war, with other nuclear-armed states, including Russia and North Korea, effectively being given the green light to conduct their own offensive strikes when they felt the need, now and possibly in the future.
Last week, Iran warned that any new strikes against its territory would be met with a response without “geographic limits,” including in the U.S. and Israel.
Trump Has Held Off From Further Attacks Until After the Midterm Elections
Trump has held off from attacking Iran again until after the U.S. midterm elections, which are scheduled to take place this week and could see the Republican Party’s power severely reduced.
The president’s approval rating has dropped dramatically since the beginning of his war against Iran, which has just entered its eighth month, with polls predicting a Democratic “blue tsunami” even in states that have been firmly red for years.
Last month, The New York Times reported that Trump’s approval rating had dropped to just 34%—the lowest pre-midterm approval rating of any president since 1946.
Trump’s approval rating is currently 7% lower than former President Joe Biden’s going into the 2022 midterms. That election saw Biden and the Democrats lose the House to Republicans, followed by the Senate and the White House two years later.
Trump’s War Against Iran is Deeply Unpopular With Voters as Cost of Living Rises
The war against Iran has proven deeply unpopular with American voters as the cost of living, including fuel, continues to soar.
Last month, a Pew Research Center poll found that about two-thirds of Americans disapproved of how Trump was handling the conflict, with gas prices as their main concern.
The New York Times, meanwhile, found that a majority of voters now favored the Democratic Party on lowering the cost of living, lowering gas prices, ending foreign conflicts, ending corruption, and improving the economy.
In October, former president Barack Obama publicly criticized Trump’s war and complained that it had given Iran “veto power” over the Strait of Hormuz, which had until then been open for business.
Fuel prices around the world have risen sharply because of both Trump’s war against Iran and Russia’s war against Ukraine, with the rises affecting everything from families, farms, and factories to commercial airlines and luxury cruise ships.
Despite Trump’s initial assurances that his war against Iran would last just four to six weeks, the conflict — and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz — recently entered its eighth month, with no end to the crisis in sight.
About the Author: Charlie Nash
Charlie Nash is a journalist and author whose work has appeared in The Spectator, Mediaite, New Statesman, and the American Conservative, among other major publications. The Washington Post, Fox News, the Daily Beast, MS NOW, NewsNation, Hannity, and more have featured his reporting. You can follow Charlie on X at @CharlieNash and on LinkedIn.
