Trump rules out Iran strikes before Nov 3

United States President Donald Trump has ruled out attacking Iran before the US midterm elections on Nov 3 and claims that Washington was having constructive talks with Tehran amid earlier reports that his administration was preparing for major combat.

Trump wrote that the US is "having productive discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran" in a social media post on Thursday.

"I want to make it clear to everybody that while Iran is in very bad condition both economically and militarily, and while the blockade will remain in full force and effect with oil flowing in record numbers of barrels through the Hormuz Strait … we will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the midterm elections", Trump wrote on social media on Thursday.

"Iran will not have a nuclear weapon," Trump added.

Oil prices dipped as Middle East supply concerns eased after Trump's pronouncements. The price of Brent crude, the benchmark for oil prices, fell 1.3 percent, to $102.91 a barrel by 04:50 GMT on Friday.

Earlier, several US media outlets reported that Washington was planning a three-day campaign of strikes against Iran, targeting its missile and drone arsenal, energy facilities, and military command centers.

Some reports mentioned that Trump had ordered the US Defense Department to prepare despite repeatedly rejecting proposals to resume major combat operations, citing progress in diplomatic talks.

In a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a meeting in Turkmenistan, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran will not abandon negotiations despite repeated US attacks.

He said that Tehran remains committed to diplomacy and efforts to end the conflict while safeguarding the Iranian nation's rights under international law, Iran's Tasnim News Agency reported.

"We are in talks, but every time we negotiate with the US, they attack again. However, we will not withdraw from the negotiating table or abandon dialogue," he was quoted as saying by Tasnim.

Pezeshkian said Iran has submitted proposals and the US had put forward new ones. Tehran has revised the proposals, he said, adding that once the revisions are finalized, the two sides would meet through existing intermediaries to review and consolidate them.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed this with reporters on Thursday.

Araghchi said Tehran will respond to a US proposal within the next few days, as indirect negotiations continue.

"We presented our proposal, which was put forward under the title of the 'seven-day plan', and we also heard the American side's views in response," Iran's Mehr News Agency quoted Araghchi as saying.

"We are currently reviewing the Americans' views, and I think we will present our response within the next few days," he said.

Elsewhere, at least three people were reported killed and eight others injured in Saudi-led coalition strikes on Yemen on Thursday, as the Houthis launched attacks targeting airports in Saudi Arabia amid escalating fighting.

Saudi Arabia's national carrier Saudia said in a statement that the Thursday attacks on King Khalid International Airport, north of Riyadh, killed one of its employees.

It said the incident damaged one of its aircraft on the ground, with no passengers on board. Saudia added that flights and operations at the airport resumed at 6 pm on Thursday.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree, meanwhile, said in a statement on X on Thursday that Saudi forces carried out 59 air and missile strikes on the capital Sanaa and 10 provinces over the past 24 hours.

In the southwestern Yemeni province of Taiz, an airstrike killed a man and a woman and injured six others, including two girls, with one person killed and two others injured in airstrikes on the central province of Ibb, Houthi-run media reported.

Yemen has been embroiled in conflict since late 2014. Fresh fighting recently marked a major escalation after a UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted major hostilities.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday that Pakistan has a "substantial" number of forces deployed in Saudi Arabia acting in a defensive capacity.

"From Pakistan, already we have (a) substantial number of forces as well as resources in town, in Riyadh," Foreign Ministry spokesman Sajjad Haider Khan said, adding Pakistani military personnel in the kingdom "would not be crossing the borders of the other side for an attack on the Houthis, but of course (are acting) in the defense of the territory".