President Donald Trump said the war in Iran was 'effectively over' and dismissed concerns that the United States would escalate, speaking at a White House press conference shortly after Republicans lost both houses of Congress in the midterm elections.

White House press conference remarks

Trump said Israel and Gulf allies in the region were well protected from Iran and that escalation was unnecessary, though the US remained prepared for military action should it be needed. At this point, he suggested, taking military action did not appear very necessary.

He also said an end to the conflict would leave Americans and the world far safer and more secure, and pointed to momentum in the conflict that he expected to bring it to an end fairly soon.

He repeated that Iran would not be permitted to acquire a nuclear weapon, while adding that a full-scale resumption of the military campaign now seemed unlikely to him.

Qatari talks and Gulf allies

The remarks followed talks in the Oval Office with the Qatari prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who had lobbied Trump alongside other Gulf countries not to resume the fighting.

Earlier on Monday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait would prefer the status quo:

Midterm backdrop

The Trump administration had continued moving troops to the Middle East in the run-up to the midterm elections, amid speculation that it was holding off on resuming the campaign until after the vote.

Republicans then lost both houses of Congress in a historic defeat:

• •The vice-president, JD Vance, declared soon after that the Iran war was a key reason for the defeats.

Nine months of promised peace

The claims of an imminent end come during a war of nearly nine months, in which Trump has said dozens of times that a final peace deal was imminent.

Trump said the US stays 'locked and loaded' and ready for military action if needed, while a full-scale resumption of the campaign seemed unlikely to him.