ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US President Donald Trump pledged his “complete and total endorsement” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday ahead of Israeli elections at the end of the month, praising him as a key partner against Iran and warning Tehran that Washington could “finish the job” unless it changed course.
Netanyahu welcomed Trump’s endorsement, praising Trump’s “remarkable consistency” in the ongoing war with Iran, as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the same day that a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz remained “on the table.”
“Please let this Letter serve to represent my Complete and Total Endorsement of Bibi Netanyahu in his upcoming Race for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Israel,” Trump said on his Truth Social.
He praised the embattled Israeli PM as a “great warrior” and “an even greater partner” against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Israeli PM has been a close ally to the US President in the war against Iran that began at the end of February. The two launched a joint air campaign that killed most of Iran’s political and military leadership, including Supreme Leader Khamanei. Despite a truce in June, disputes over the administration of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program have prevented a lasting peace.
Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi said Sunday that Tehran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days remained on the table, urging Washington to accept its conditions.
Iran has demanded the lifting of the US naval blockade, the release of frozen Iranian assets and an end to the war across what it calls the resistance movement.
Trump’s latest post on Truth Social took aim at Tehran in contrast, portraying the Islamic Republic as weakened by US military and economic pressure.
“They have been systematically destroyed, both Militarily and Financially, and unless they change their ways rapidly, we will soon finish the job.”
He also warned that a Netanyahu defeat could leave Washington to confront Iran without the same level of Israeli cooperation.
“If Israel has the wrong Leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi, America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so,” he said.
Trump’s warning comes amid reports last week by CNN that the US military had drawn up plans for possible renewed strikes against Iran.
The reported options include the possible use of the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb (MOAB), commonly known as the "mother of all bombs," the largest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal.
The US blockade of Iranian ports and restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted the global flow of oil through the waterway, which previously accounted for about a fifth of the world’s oil supply.
Iranian forces have also targeted vessels attempting to pass through the strait, using naval mines and other weapons.
According to data from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), analyzed by BBC Verify, attacks on vessels in and around the strait reached their highest weekly level since the US-Israeli war against Iran began in late February.
Twelve vessels reported attacks between October 5 and 11, compared with 10 the previous week.
The conflict has driven up global oil prices. Brent crude reached $110 per barrel on Friday for the first time since May, according to Reuters.
Netanyahu, in a video statement posted on X, praised Trump’s leadership and argued that rising fuel prices were a temporary cost of confronting the Iranian threat.
Netanyahu said: “If you [the American people] are worried about today’s gas prices, think about what will happen if Iran gets nuclear weapons, something that Donald Trump and I will never allow and when that happens, when that of that regime disappears, gas prices will go down and how. But only under Trump.”
Netanyahu’s remakes come ahead of the US midterm elections in November, which will determine control of Congress for the remaining two years of Trump’s presidency.
While Trump has previously stated that he would not attack Iran until after the elections, he told Rudaw’s Diyar Kurda on the same day that the possibility was not decided, “We may. We will see. They are failing badly, their country is failing badly, their military is defeated, they have no navy, they have no air force, they have 300 percent inflation and Iran is in very bad shape.”
