Trump's on-again-off-again war against Iran: in his own words

US President Donald Trump has made aggressive public threats about military action against Iran, but has also walked back many of them. According to CBS News, more than 50,000 American troops remain deployed in the Middle East, with 18 US service members dead and hundreds more injured or wounded. The Pentagon's press briefings have largely disappeared, with the last one held in early May.

Trump has launched several efforts at diplomacy with Iran, including a recent attempt, and has spoken about the war in sweeping and optimistic terms. He claimed the Iranian Navy has been "obliterated", according to CBS News. Trump also said he had agreed to hold off on a military attack at the request of Iran and other regional countries, with a potential agreement that would include the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to Iran's nuclear threat.

However, Iran has rejected Trump's claims that Tehran had agreed to a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran's acting Defence Minister Majid Ebn-e-Reza saying Trump's comments were part of "psychological operations and a war of calculations". According to Live Mint, Iran insisted the strategic waterway would remain closed as long as the US continued its "hostile actions".

GOP Sen. James Lankford argued that President Trump "has no desire" to bomb Iran, and is instead focused on trying to get a deal, as reported by The Hill.

Brief written by urgent.news from Al-Monitor, CBS News, The Island Sri Lanka, The Hill, Live Mint — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.