US President Donald Trump has signalled that fresh military action against Iran remains an option, saying he is holding back only because he wants to spare lives.
This came even as he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about when to resume combat.
Addressing a rally in Dubuque, Iowa, Trump said: "The only reason we are not finished with Iran is because I want to be nice. I want to try and save all those lives if I can. But at some point, we're going to have to give them the hammer."
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Trump on Iran: The only reason we are not finished with Iran is because I want to be nice. I want to try and save all those lives if I can. But at some point, we're going to have to give them the hammer. https://t.co/6pz6nQeWgc
— Clash Report (@clashreport) November 1, 2026
He also predicted the conflict would end "very soon", though he gave no timetable.
The remarks followed a Saturday phone call with Netanyahu on the state of US negotiations with Iran and how quickly to return to combat, Axios reported, citing one Israeli and one US source.
The Israeli source called the conversation "tough", while the US source described it as "direct". The White House and the Israeli prime minister's office declined to comment.
According to the sources, Netanyahu is pressing Trump to strike Iran immediately after the US midterm elections on Tuesday. Trump, for now, wants to let negotiations run their course, a strategy that worries the Israeli leader.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Trump said talks with Iran were going fine and that he was "not in much of a hurry". He said Iran wants a deal but is unreliable, accusing Tehran of agreeing to terms and then backing out.
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He also said the US still has to deal with one or two Iranian nuclear sites, and that military options for a suspected facility built into Pickaxe Mountain were already planned and could be executed quickly.
Trump is again pursuing two tracks at once, as he did before Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025 and Operation Epic Fury in February: seeking a deal to restart peace talks while preparing for a possible return to major combat after the midterms.
On the diplomatic front, Vice President JD Vance sent a letter last week to Mohsen Rezaei, Iran's national security chief, about restarting negotiations. Axios described it as the most senior US outreach to Tehran in several months.
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Qatari mediators met Iranian officials on Sunday for a third consecutive day, trying to revive direct US-Iran talks.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that no agreement had been reached and that a deal depends on Washington answering Iran's questions.
He said Tehran was making every effort and hoped the other side would show "enough rationality" to choose diplomacy over other paths.
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