Donald Trump in Florida: another operation against the Islamic Republic is possible

Donald Trump, the US president, said at a campaign rally in Florida on the evening of Friday 23 October 2026 that the United States may carry out another military operation against the Islamic Republic unless Tehran agrees to a deal with Washington. He set out two paths for the Islamic Republic: either a smaller version of Operation "Epic Fury", the name of the joint US-Israeli operation against the Islamic Republic last February, is repeated, or Tehran agrees.

Trump added that if the government in Tehran is wise, it will come to the table and begin the work in earnest. In the same speech he called the Strait of Hormuz, in his words, "totally ours", a reference to the US naval blockade that has almost completely halted the Islamic Republic's oil exports since July.

Reaction to Tom Barrack's remarks

Before the rally, Trump told reporters he was unaware of remarks by Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey, about a possible US strike on the Islamic Republic this very weekend, and that if there was such a plan, he knew nothing about it. Barrack had said on Friday that a new strike could come soon, even this weekend, while stressing that the US president remains open to a diplomatic agreement with Tehran.

Trump has repeatedly spoken in recent days of the possibility of new military action. Early in the week he told reporters that the US had dealt the Islamic Republic a heavy blow and might take things a little further. He also said Washington is weighing whether to finish off the Islamic Republic or let it collapse from within; and earlier he had said the US is not negotiating with the Islamic Republic and that it will all be over soon.

Pressure on Tehran ahead of the US elections

These remarks come as tension in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz has peaked and the price of Brent crude has passed 116 dollars a barrel. At the same time, the foreign ministers of several countries of the region and Europe spoke at the Istanbul meeting in favour of diplomacy and against a new attack. Trump gave no details about the timing, targets or form of a possible operation, and no order for a new strike has yet been announced.

The US midterm elections take place on 3 November, and Islamic Republic officials, according to informed sources, are deliberately dragging out negotiations so that the US president is weakened before these elections.

Donald Trump set two paths before the Islamic Republic: a deal, or a new round of US military operations.