--- title: "Trump says he may “destroy the rest” of Iran, and Tehran answers with phone calls" description: "While CENTCOM reportedly waits for orders, Iran’s envoy visits Putin and its foreign minister calls round the Gulf, holding to seven conditions" author: "Nate Ledger" published: 2026-11-06T12:57:33Z modified: 2026-11-06T16:49:50Z url: https://rews.cc/a/trump-says-he-may-destroy-the-rest-of-iran-and-tehran-answer-867662 language: en tags: ["iran", "russia", "trump", "diplomacy", "hormuz", "mideast", "world"] publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)" --- # Trump says he may “destroy the rest” of Iran, and Tehran answers with phone calls *While CENTCOM reportedly waits for orders, Iran’s envoy visits Putin and its foreign minister calls round the Gulf, holding to seven conditions* By Nate Ledger · November 6, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/trump-says-he-may-destroy-the-rest-of-iran-and-tehran-answer-867662 ## In brief - Trump said the US may have to “destroy the rest” of Iran; Axios reported CENTCOM is ready and awaiting orders - Axios reported three options under review: new strikes, more economic pressure, or a deal with significant concessions - Iran sent a proposal via Qatar but says talks and reopening Hormuz depend on seven US concessions - Security chief Mohsen Rezaei met Putin in Moscow; they discussed gas pipelines from Russia to Iran - Araghchi called Gulf and Turkish ministers as Iran warned states aiding US attacks could be targets Iran’s diplomatic calendar has filled up in a hurry. On Thursday, Donald Trump told reporters the US may have to “destroy” the rest of Iran, and that people will “know soon enough” if he does it. Axios quoted a US official saying Central Command was preparing to resume major military operations and was just waiting on orders from Washington. Over the same stretch, [as Al Jazeera’s Barbara Angopa sets out](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/6/russia-to-uae-iran-steps-up-diplomacy-amid-trump-threats-what-we-know), Iran sent its top security official to the Kremlin and had its foreign minister ring round most of the Gulf. The full quote is a bit less martial than the headline version. After meeting his national security advisers, Trump said: “I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I will have to,” [according to HNGN’s account](https://www.hngn.com/articles/273722/20261106/trump-says-iran-decision-coming-soon-advisers-split.htm). Axios reported three options on the table, [as summarised by RBC-Ukraine](https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/trump-mulls-three-options-for-iran-war-or-1793948729.html): new strikes, more economic pressure on the regime, or a deal that involves significant concessions to Iran. That covers most of the possibilities, so “you’ll know soon enough” is close to a promise that something will eventually happen. CENTCOM has [had strike options ready](https://rews.cc/a/centcom-has-iran-strike-options-ready-hegseth-has-them-trump-cfb7df) for a couple of weeks now. The timing matters. These were Trump’s first remarks on the question since the November 3 midterms, in which Democrats won both chambers of Congress, [The National reported](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/11/06/youll-know-soon-enough-trump-considers-iran-options/). Al Jazeera attributes the Republican losses largely to the war and rising energy prices. Tehran has treated the result as a public rejection of the war. That reading is self-serving, but you can see where it comes from. ## Seven conditions, one strait The substance of the standoff is a sequencing problem. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran sent the US a new nuclear and peace proposal through Qatari mediators, and the US is reviewing it. But the proposal would only be discussed once Washington meets seven Iranian demands, which include lifting sanctions, unfreezing assets and ending the US naval blockade of Iranian ports. Meeting those demands is Iran’s price for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and returning to talks. The US position is that any ceasefire has to include a nuclear deal before broader talks restart. So each side wants its main prize paid up front as the entry fee for negotiations about everything else. Imagine selling a house where the buyer won’t look at it until you hand over the keys, and you won’t hand over the keys until the buyer signs. Somebody has to blink first, and both governments have spent weeks explaining why it shouldn’t be them. Qatar has been [running long sessions in Tehran](https://rews.cc/a/qatar-ran-12-plus-hours-of-talks-in-tehran-to-restart-us-ira-3c279a) to break the deadlock, and its emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, spoke with Trump on Friday about Doha-led mediation aimed at “a comprehensive agreement that puts an end to the crisis.” ## Moscow On Thursday Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, met Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. He carried a message from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, and its contents were not disclosed. Rezaei called the meeting “an extremely important exchange” and stated the Iranian position about as plainly as it can be put: > As long as they do not execute our seven conditions, we will neither open the Strait of Hormuz nor have negotiations. The Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov and the military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov also attended. The two sides discussed building gas pipelines from Russia to Iran. That would ease Iran’s shortages, since Tehran says its gas refineries were hit during the 40-day peak of US-Israeli strikes, and it would let Russia sell energy on to Iran’s neighbours. It is a nice piece of deal structure: Russia gets help for an ally and a new export route out of the same pipe. The Financial Times separately reported that Russia had agreed to supply 90 helicopter-mounted launchers for precision-guided missiles, based on a 2024-25 production schedule that used Iran’s code. Nicole Grajewski of the Carnegie Endowment told the FT this shows Russia’s willingness to keep supplying Iran “despite its own wartime demands.” The trade has run both ways: Iran supplied the Shahed drones Russia used against Ukraine, and Russia reportedly helped Iran with supersonic cruise missiles and sold it Verba anti-air missiles. Putin offered in early October to help mediate an end to the war. Russia’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, has advised its citizens not to travel to Iran. ## The Gulf Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spent Thursday on the phone. He discussed regional developments and stability efforts with the UAE’s Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, security with Saudi Arabia’s Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, and de-escalation with the foreign ministers of Kuwait and Turkiye. With Qatar’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who backed freedom of navigation, he talked about coordinating to lower tensions. With Oman, the main topic was safe passage through Hormuz. Iran has exempted Iraq, Qatar, India and China from its shipping restrictions. The calls came alongside a less friendly message. An IRGC Aerospace Force spokesman said any country helping the US could be a legitimate target, and Tasnim reported that Iran’s response “will not be geographically limited.” Iran has previously threatened Gulf cables, data centres and AI facilities. For a Gulf foreign minister, the offer works out to roughly this: Tehran would like your help calming things down, and if things don’t calm down, your infrastructure is on the list. It is unpleasant, but it is a coherent way to give the neighbours a reason to lobby Washington. None of this is happening in calm water. Iran shot down two US reconnaissance drones near Qeshm Island, which the US had struck earlier in the week. The US calls its strikes on Qeshm and Bandar Lengeh “defensive.” The IRGC navy says at least seven tankers caught fire this week after hitting mines on “unauthorised routes” near Oman, two of them on Friday, though maritime organisations have not confirmed those incidents. The strait normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil. The war began in February, and the US is blockading Iranian ports while escorting tankers. Hadi Afghahi, a former Iranian diplomat, told Al Jazeera that Trump “really does not want to go to war” but is surrounded by hawks, including the energy and treasury secretaries. If he’s right, the hawks Iran has to worry about include the cabinet member in charge of energy prices. That is the one figure the midterms just made politically expensive.