Live Updates: Trump vows Iran war will end “right after election” or sooner, as 9,000 troops head to Middle East

Flights between Iran and Iraq will resume soon, Iraqi Ambassador to Tehran Yasser Abdul Zahra Al-Hajjaj said, as the two countries work to resolve disruptions to air travel after the United States imposed sanctions that bar virtually all nations and entities from collaborating with Iranian carriers.

After a meeting with Iran’s Transport Minister Farzaneh Sadegh, Al-Hajjaj said that the neighboring countries were investigating mechanisms and initiatives to address the issue related to what he described as US pressure on air transport.

He highlighted the large number of Muslim pilgrims, students and businessmen who typically travel between Iran and Iraq, as well as the countries’ extensive economic and social ties.

“Flights between the two countries will resume soon,” Al-Hajjaj said, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.

In August, the United States announced a series of new sanctions against Iranalso on the country’s aviation industry, causing several countries to cancel flights to and from Iran.

European Union nations have discussed a proposed release of additional diesel reserves amid US pressure to ease fuel prices, a source with knowledge of the discussion told Reuters news agency on Friday.

In a Friday call, several EU governments debated a French proposal for a joint release of 50 million barrels of diesel, the source told Reuters, and for member countries of the International Energy Agency to release 50 million barrels of crude oil.

The countries also discussed the idea that any agreement on diesel reserve releases should include a commitment by the United States not to unilaterally ban diesel exports, the source said. G7 leaders may further discuss the proposal on a call on Friday, Reuters reports.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said Thursday that the Houthis struck an electricity distribution station in Medina, Saudi Arabia, a city that is home to the second holiest site in Islam. The alleged attack drew strong condemnation from the Muslim world.

The fighting has intensified significantly in Yemen in recent weeks, with government forces reporting several airstrikes on Houthi targets overnight and AFP journalists hearing explosions in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa.

The Saudi-led coalition said the Houthi drone struck Medina’s Taibah electricity distribution station, which supplies power to the Prophet’s Mosque, Islam’s second holiest site. The Houthis have denied any involvement.

Saudi-led coalition spokesman Maj. General Turki al-Maliki said a drone hit the Taibah electricity distribution station early Tuesday morning.

“The investigation and the evidence collected by the relevant authorities confirmed the involvement of the terrorist Houthi militia in the planning and execution of this cowardly act of terrorism, based on the after-action review and the wreckage of the drone used,” he said in a statement.

The coalition said one transformer was taken out of service without affecting the wider power grid.

CBS/AFP

Speaking in Denton, Texas, Thursday night at the Peterbilt Motors facility, President Trump said Iran is “ready to fold.”

He said he believed the U.S. would win the war “right after the election,” referring to the U.S. midterm elections in early November.

“Maybe before the election,” he added.

“I’m going to make sure that Iran is over very quickly,” the president said, promising that US energy prices, which have risen because of the war, will come down “quickly, quickly.”

Mr Trump said the US was “trying to be nice” to Iran’s current leader, but “we don’t know who the hell to deal with, to be honest with you. Nobody wants to be president.”

The USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group and the USS Makin Island Amphibious Group are heading to the Middle East, a US official confirmed to CBS News on Thursday.

That could mean a total of three US carrier strike groups and two amphibious ready groups being deployed to the region at the same time, at least unless and until one of the groups is rotated out of the region.

A US official told The Associated Press that about 7,000 sailors and 2,000 US Marines were en route as part of the deployment. That would bring the total number of US forces in the region to about 20,000, along with hundreds of ships and aircraft.

The forces could arrive by the end of October, the official told the AP.

The USS George HW Bush and the USS George Washington are already in the area, along with the USS Boxer amphibious readiness group.

President Trump suggested on Thursday that Iran could be linked to the alleged downing of a FlyDubai plane bound for Israel.

Asked by reporters if he had been briefed on any links between Iran and the co-pilot who attacked the flight’s captain and tried to crash the plane before being subdued by passengers, Mr Trump said: “We are working on it now.”

“I would say the answer, based on what I’m hearing, is yes,” Mr. Trump said. “But we’re working on it now.”

Mr. Trump gave no further details.

Asked if the co-pilot had worked for or with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mr Trump said he “could have been, yes.”

In response to a question about potential US retaliation if Tehran was linked to the attack, Mr Trump said: “They will be hit, very hard, don’t worry.”