One of President Donald Trump’s top aides, Stephen Miller, has warned that the Iran war could continue “indefinitely.”
The White House deputy chief of staff was speaking on Fox News as a pact to end the conflict permanently remained elusive. “He wants Iran to choose the right path to make a deal,” he told veteran host Sean Hannity on his eponymous show.
He then let slip a horrifying timeline for the war, telling the host: “This embargo is squeezing the economic life out of the Iranian regime, and the United States has the capacity to continue this indefinitely, if Iran chooses the wrong path.”
Trump himself told Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday that “if they’re smart, it will end soon.”
While the U.S. has no literal “embargo” in place, it has blocked Iranian ports and shipping routes, effectively stopping much of its sea trade. It’s also warning or penalizing foreign banks and countries that handle Iranian money or buy its oil, cutting the regime off from the global financial system.
“The most important thing right now is seeing this mission through to completion,” Miller added.
He said that “man of peace” Trump wants a cessation to the violence that has left more than 2,000 Iranians and 13 U.S. service members dead.
“He wants a deal. He wants to choose the right path, but he will not allow Iran to pursue or achieve nuclear weapons. And this embargo and every other option is on the table as President Trump seeks that final, safe, secure outcome for the people of the world,” Miller ranted.
Trump’s main justification for the war is that it is a vessel to decimate Iran’s nuclear capabilities. “They were gonna take out the Middle East,” he told Bartiromo. In the same interview, he also suggested that Iran could target the U.S..
However, while Iran possesses a significant stockpile of enriched uranium, including over 400 kg enriched to 60 percent, there is no conclusive evidence of an active, current weaponization program.
Despite this, and despite the Trump administration’s messaging, a humiliating new poll shows that Americans are overwhelmingly skeptical of the war in Iran, with just 24 percent saying it has been worth the cost.
The war has angered many of Trump’s MAGA supporters, who voted for him partly due to his promise to end “forever wars.”
Economist/YouGov polling conducted before the conflict indicated that 53 percent of Trump voters opposed U.S. involvement in Iran.
Meanwhile, Miller has been under fire after a pre-election post resurfaced in which he called Kamala Harris the “WWIII” presidential candidate.
In the post, shared on X days before the 2024 general election, Miller accused the media of spreading “hoaxes” about which candidate would be more pro-peace and sharply contrasted the two campaigns in terms of war and foreign policy.
“Trump said warmongering neocons love sending your kids to die for wars they would never fight themselves,” Miller wrote. “Liz Cheney is Kamala’s top advisor. Liz wants to invade the whole Middle East. Kamala = WWIII. Trump = Peace.”
The war was launched on February 28 alongside Israel, which remains locked in skirmishes with Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Israel insists that the U.S.-Israel ceasefire does not apply to Lebanon, its neighbor to the north.
On Wednesday, Israel hit Hezbollah strongholds with strikes, whilst the group retaliated by bombarding northern Israel. Israeli troops also continued ground operations in southern Lebanon.
While U.S. and Israeli officials have stressed that they do not consider Lebanon to be involved in the overall peace negotiations regarding “Operation Epic Fury,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted direct talks between Israeli and Lebanese envoys in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.
And, shortly before midnight on Wednesday, Trump announced that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon would hold talks for the first time in more than three decades.
“Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. “It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years.”
He added that a meeting would take place on Thursday. “Nice!” he concluded.
