Trump holds phone call with Putin to discuss ‘quick’ ending to Iran war

US President Donald Trump claimed on Monday that American military objectives in Iran were nearly complete and the conflict could be nearing an end – a declaration met with a defiant vow from Tehran that the war would end on its own terms.

In an apparent response to Trump’s remarks, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement on Tuesday: “It is we who will determine the end of the war”.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told PBS News: “We are well prepared to continue attacking them with our missiles as long as needed and as long as it takes”, while Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani brushed off Trump’s threats to hit the Islamic republic harder if the flow of oil stops through the Strait of Hormuz.

“Iran is not afraid of your empty threats. Even those greater than you could not eliminate the Iranian nation. Take care of yourself not to be eliminated!” he wrote in a post on X.

The strategic waterway, which links the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, is a crucial artery for global trade and the transport of crude oil and liquefied natural gas.