Trump Signals an Imminent Iran Decision as Hormuz Attacks Rise and Oil Rebounds

November 6, 2026 · Category: World News

The Iran file shifted from midterm blame to an Oval Office choice. Late Thursday, after meeting his national security team — the first such session on Iran since the vote, two U.S. officials told Axios — President Donald Trump said the administration would soon decide whether to “go further” and ensure Iran’s nuclear program cannot be revived, Gulf News reported in Friday updates. He said he would rather not “destroy the rest of the country,” but “maybe I’ll have to,” and that people would “know soon enough.” He also said 18 U.S. service members have died in the conflict. Officials again framed the options as further strikes, continued economic pressure or a deal.

That rhetoric lands on a harder maritime picture. The Joint Maritime Information Centre’s Update 111 advisory, dated Nov. 5 and circulated by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, counted four Hormuz attacks over 96 hours versus three in the prior period, with all four clustered in about 52 hours off Oman’s Musandam coast between Nov. 1 and Nov. 3, Gulf News said. The tally follows days of tanker fire claims and earlier U.S. “defensive” strikes on Qeshm Island that Al Jazeera and Reuters covered as Tehran called Washington’s Hormuz reply “unconvincing” and mediators tried to keep a draft alive.

Energy desks are pricing both tracks. Brent had slipped toward about $93 amid hopes diplomacy would blunt an immediate return to major combat; by Friday morning Beijing time Gulf News cited Brent near $98.29, up roughly 3.9%, as unresolved Iran risk pulled buyers back. Diplomacy has not stopped: Qatar still pushes a draft that could restart talks, and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed urged de-escalation in a call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. In Washington, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth rejected a War Powers impeachment push from Rep. Thomas Massie over hostilities lasting more than 90 days without authorization, while Iran’s Mohsen Rezaei said in Moscow that Russia would build a gas pipeline to Iran — a longer energy bet beside the near-term Hormuz and strike debate.

Why it matters

Shipping insurers and energy markets are watching a short window in which Trump’s “soon enough” decision, the UKMTO attack count and Qatar’s mediation either narrow or widen escalation risk through the Strait of Hormuz, still a global oil chokepoint as the new U.S. Congress prepares to take its seats.

Sources

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