US President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Sept. 30, 2026. (Credit: Kent Nishimura / AFP)
BEIRUT — U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States will soon have to choose between reaching a deal with Iran or resuming strikes on the country, asserting that the conflict would end “very soon, one way or another.”
When asked in the Oval Office about the possibility of negotiating with Iranian leaders, Trump replied, “Maybe you blow them up. You have to make that decision. We blow them up, we make a deal, but the time is coming, it will end very soon one way or the other.”
Trump also claimed that the United States now has “virtually total control” of the Strait of Hormuz, although he acknowledged that the situation could change if Iran laid mines there.
These statements come as Tehran has announced it received a U.S. counter-proposal regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, as part of ongoing diplomatic efforts to break the stalemate. The indirect negotiations held in recent days, particularly through Qatar, have so far failed to bring the two countries’ positions close enough.
Signaling the tensions surrounding these talks, Axios reported Thursday that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday ordered the Iranian delegation in New York to leave the United States immediately after negotiations stalled. According to the U.S. outlet, which cited a U.S. official and another source familiar with the issue, Washington determined that the Iranian delegation had “overstayed their welcome.”
Tehran, however, denied this account. The Iranian mission to the U.N. said the delegation left New York on Monday as scheduled and that its departure timetable had been communicated in advance to the State Department. “Having achieved nothing, the State Department resorted to spreading baseless and worthless information,” the mission said on X.
Also on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told military officials gathered in Quantico, near Washington, that U.S. forces had “destroyed” Iran’s navy and air force, as well as its defense systems, part of its command structure, and its military-industrial capabilities, while dealing a blow to its nuclear ambitions.
