What the record does show is that both sides are keeping military options visible while leaving a diplomatic channel nominally open.
Iran has warned that any renewed war with the United States could last longer than the previous round of fighting, after President Donald Trump said he still had to “take care” of more targets. According to Iranian state television, army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia said a potential future war “could last longer than [the] previous conflict, and the American president would not be in a position to dictate the timing or the conditions of its conclusion”.
The exchange comes against a war that began on 28 February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, after which Tehran retaliated with missile and drone attacks across the region and Iran-aligned armed groups joined the fighting in Lebanon and Yemen. Trump told reporters that “we still have to take care of, I would say one or two sites, but we can do that in 10 minutes”, referring to Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected underground nuclear complex. He repeated the threat at a campaign rally in Iowa ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections, saying he may have to give Tehran “the hammer” at some unspecified time.
Diplomacy has not been abandoned. Axios reported, citing one US and one Israeli official, that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the state of negotiations on Saturday, with Netanyahu pressing for strikes immediately after the midterms and Trump eager to let talks play out. One source called the call “tough”, the other “direct”. Trump confirmed he had discussed Iran with Netanyahu but would not elaborate. Separately, Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei disclosed that he had received a letter from Vice-President J.D. Vance seeking to revive talks, noting a positive change in tone but saying he had yet to respond.
Tehran has set conditions. Rezaei said Iran had told Washington that unless they were met, “neither would the Strait of Hormuz be reopened nor would there be any negotiations”. Those conditions include unfreezing Iranian assets abroad, ending the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, lifting long-standing sanctions and ending the war on all fronts. Since the fighting began, Iran has claimed control over the Strait of Hormuz and repeatedly targeted vessels crossing without its authorisation, while the United States has imposed a counter-blockade on Iranian ports.
Iranian officials have kept up the warnings. Revolutionary Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebbi said that “in a conflict with America, there are no geographical limitations; a vast theatre has been defined for inflicting damage upon the enemy”, echoing a message from the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran “remains prepared for both defence and diplomacy”. The United Arab Emirates' diplomatic adviser, Anwar Gargash, told a conference in Manama that another round would not serve the region's interest, but that the Gulf was “braced for the worst”.
What is not established is whether the Vance letter marks a genuine opening or a tactical pause. The content of the letter has not been published, the conditions Tehran lists are far-reaching, and the timing of any US action appears bound up with domestic politics. What the record does show is that both sides are keeping military options visible while leaving a diplomatic channel nominally open — a posture that raises the cost of miscalculation for the Gulf states and for energy markets that depend on the Strait of Hormuz.
