Trump says Iran decision coming ‘very soon’ as US probes possible Fairford terror links

Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the Iranian delegation attending the United Nations General Assembly to immediately leave the United States, officials said Wednesday.

“Secretary Rubio kicked out the Iranian delegation who had overstayed their welcome,” an official told Fox News Digital.

“The United Nations General Assembly was over, so it was time for them to go,” they added.

The Iranian diplomatic delegation had arrived in New York on Sept. 22 to attend the annual summit and met with a U.S. team for talks on the sidelines.

Oil prices rose Wednesday, with Brent crude posting its biggest monthly gain since July, as stalled U.S.-Iran peace talks and tightening U.S. fuel markets fueled concerns about global supply, Reuters reported.

Brent crude for November delivery, which expires Wednesday, settled up 91 cents, or 0.9%, at $103.50 a barrel. The December contract rose $1.87, or 1.9%, to $98.03 a barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled up $1.04, or 1.2%, at $90.42 a barrel.

For September, Brent gained about 14% which was its strongest monthly performance since July. WTI advanced roughly 5%, Reuters reported.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday defended U.S. military action against Tehran as necessary while speaking at the Euronews Defence and Space Summit.

Rutte argued that only Washington had the capability to neutralize Tehran’s nuclear capacity and the threat he warned extends “not only for Israel and the Middle East” but to Europe as well.

While agreeing that the war carries clear “downsides,” the Rutte urged European allies to increase defense investments so they can eventually “take care of their backyard themselves” and secure key waterways like the Red Sea from the Houthis rather than relying on the U.S.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that U.S. forces destroyed major elements of Iran’s military and crippled its nuclear ambitions during operations against Tehran.

“Take Iran, for example. Allow me to lay it out simply,” Hegseth said at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.

“For the anti-American losers in our media. These Americans right here and their peers, these have destroyed Iran's Navy, destroyed Iran's Air Force, destroyed their air defense systems, their leadership and their military-industrial capacity, their entire defense base.”

Hegseth said Iran’s “conventional shield has been crippled” and its nuclear ambitions have been “laid bare for the world.”

“This group is ensuring that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. Courageous and historic operations that every red-blooded American is proud of,” he added

U.S. Central Command announced plans for its first multinational attack drone task force on Wednesday, bringing together what it said were U.S. and regional forces to operate unmanned systems across air and sea.

"We're excited to welcome Bahrain to Task Force Falcon Strike after the kingdom affirmed its commitment to join CENTCOM in building the world's first multinational attack drone unit,” the command said on X.

“Bahrain is a steadfast partner in strengthening regional security and stability,” Adm. Brad Cooper, the CENTCOM commander, said.

“The United States military has a lot of strong partnerships and friends in the region,” Cooper said, referring to the Middle East.

“We are collectively stronger when we integrate and deploy new capabilities together,” he said in a statement. 

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the U.S. will soon have to decide whether to "blow up" Iran or reach a deal with Tehran, warning the standoff is ending imminently.

“Maybe you blow them up,” he told reporters at the Oval Office. “We have to make that decision. We blow them up, make a deal.

“But the time is coming,” he warned. "It's going to end very soon, one way or the other.”

President Donald Trump said Wednesday the U.S. is "studying" whether Iran was involved in a suspected terror plot targeting RAF Fairford, a key U.S.-used air base in Britain, while questioning the U.K.'s handling of the case and promising answers "very quickly."

“We are. I look, we are studying it right now,” Trump said in the Oval Office.

“We're studying it. We're studying it very hard,” he assured.

“Iran's got a lot of problems right there. You know, they have no money. Their currency is dead. Their economy is dead. Their military is gone. They have no military. They have no navy. They have no air force. And their leaders are fighting for control," he said.

“I think their leaders are fighting very strongly for control. But control of what? So but we'll have an answer to that very quickly,” Trump added.

Asked whether he was satisfied with how the United Kingdom was handling the case, Trump pointed to the release of the five men and said authorities caught them “wanting to blow up a base.”

“We caught them early,” Trump said.

“Maybe they did it for a reason, but we're going to know about that this afternoon," Trump added.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, marking the end of a military presence that began 23 years ago, and said American forces left with all of their equipment intact while pledging Washington would continue to assist Iraq if needed.

“We're now gone and we took everything with us, every, every nut, every bolt, every screw,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.

“Every tank, every plane,” he added.

“We should have left a long time ago,” Trump said before adding that the United States left with “dignity and respect.”

Trump also said that after the withdrawal, Washington would “be there to help if we need to.”

“But that's a big thing. We're out of Iraq after 23 years,” he said.

“If you look at Iraq, we lost 4,500 people. And the result isn't anywhere near what we have here, although we went into Iraq to destroy ISIS, and I did that in my first term.

“That's why they should have left. Long ago.

“But the sole reason we went to Iraq was to eradicate ISIS, and I did it in my first term.”

Yemeni armed forces carried out 468 operations targeting Houthi fighters and military equipment across several fronts, killing or wounding hundreds of fighters, a military spokesman said Monday.

Majed Abdullah Al-Nuzaili, a spokesman for Yemen’s armed forces, said the operations targeted Houthi forces on the eastern, White and Mansoura fronts in Al-Wadi'ah and resulted in the “killing and wounding of hundreds of militia elements, as well as the destruction of their equipment and military vehicles.”

“Meanwhile, the militia continues to target civilians and civilian facilities, including educational institutions, in a desperate attempt to break the will of the Yemeni people to restore the state and reject its extremist and destructive project,” Al-Nuzaili wrote on X.

Republican congressional candidate Scott Singer voiced support Wednesday for U.S. efforts against Iran, arguing Tehran cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon while drawing a contrast with Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz over support for Israel.

"I think we need to have a resolution of this,” Singer, the former mayor of Boca Raton who is challenging Moskowitz in Florida’s 25th Congressional District, said of the conflict.

“I think we need to emerge victoriously. We have to remember that nuclear Iran is an existential threat," he told Fox News Digital.

"We have seen how dastardly, vicious, murderous this regime has been over 47 years. Their foreign policy is death to America. They've killed Americans, they'll kill more.

"And even since this conflict started, they've started attacking other nations who weren't combatants, trying to widen the conflict. They support terror across the world. It's hurt America, it's hurt Americans, it's hurt our allies like Israel, and it's hurting the free world. We need to stop this," Singer said.

"And I am optimistic we'll see a resolution soon. And that's a small price to pay. Even if we have some hiccups there, it's a smaller price to pay to ensure Iran does not have a nuclear weapon,” he added.

Singer also contrasted his record with Moskowitz’s on Israel.

"I'm a stronger supporter of Israel. I would never have put Ilhan Omar on the Foreign Affairs Committee. I would not have, like he did, voted against U.S.-Israel cooperation in the NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act]," Singer said of Moskowitz.

"I would have not voted to undercut President [Donald] Trump's efforts and our military's efforts with the War Powers Act vote months ago when the U.S. and Israel were fighting against a common enemy," Singer said.

"He's done all of those things because Democratic leadership requires him. And he admitted three weeks ago to Jewish Insider that he's being ostracized in his own party. He doesn't have any more chits to give in.

“He has to go with the way the majority is going, and that expanded squad is going to tamp out any voice he has," Singer said.

"In my party, support for Israel is a feature, not a bug, and I don't have to moderate my views or vote in accordance with the majority…I can be a strong supporter for Israel without reservation. Jared's admitted he can't be and won't be," he added.

This is an excerpt from a report by Fox News Digital's David Unsworth.

The State Department on Wednesday dismissed an open letter from the IRGC as an attempt to mislead Americans and divert attention from its history of terrorism and aggression.

The letter to the American public, released Tuesday, had urged U.S. voters ahead of the midterm elections to reject President Donald Trump's foreign policies, end U.S. support for Israel and accept an offer of "peaceful coexistence."

"The IRGC’s desperate effort to lie to the American people does not change the hard facts about the Iranian regime’s record of maliciousness both in Iran and abroad,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

"Iran, the leading state sponsor of terrorism, continues to choose terror over prosperity, and ordinary Iranians pay the price," the spokesperson added.

"This false letter, the Iranian regime's latest act of desperation, is nothing more than a smokescreen, and the world sees it for what it is."

Iran on Wednesday warned the United Arab Emirates that hosting U.S. military bases has failed to bring security, arguing that a recent visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not make the region safer.

Tehran’s warning also came as Britain said there are “strong indications” Iran was involved in a suspected terror incident near RAF Fairford, a U.S.-used air base — an allegation Tehran has denied.

“Just as hosting U.S. military bases has not brought you security, hosting the ‘Butcher of Gaza’ will also not have favorable consequences,” Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said on X.

“Learn from the last war, stop igniting wars, and cease issuing baseless claims regarding the Iranian islands!” he added.

Rezaei's remarks also came after Netanyahu's visited Abu Dhabi on Sunday, where he met President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed for talks on bilateral relations and regional issues.

Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref declared Sept. 29 that the global campaign of “Iranophobia” has ended while calling for Tehran to take on a new role in the Middle East.

The Stanford-educated Iranian official said Tehran is now directly engaged with the United States and Israel, according to Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

“Even if the recent negotiations between Iran and the United States lead to a memorandum of understanding, our position vis-à-vis the United States will not change,” he said, according to Mehr News Agency.

“As the ‘Iranophobia’ project has been neutralized in the post-war condition, we must fulfill our new role in the region,” he added.

Aref also said Iran was the only nation that “stood against the US with authority,” according to IRNA.

He said that over the next two years, Iran must “secure the region’s top ranking and a globally influential position in science and technology,” thereby “fulfilling the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution’s strategy in this domain.”

Aref had earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1976 and a doctorate in 1980. 

President Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed the end of the U.S.-led coalition’s mission against ISIS in Iraq as an American victory, saying the terror group’s "caliphate" had been destroyed and “completely decimated.”

“We came to fight a caliphate, and there is no longer a caliphate, so we are going home,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We are getting out of there.”

The withdrawal ends the coalition’s military mission in Iraq under an agreement Washington and Baghdad reached in 2024, shifting primary responsibility for combating remaining ISIS elements to Iraqi forces. The U.S. will continue providing targeted training and intelligence support.

“So this day is a victory for the United States, a victory for Iraq, and a decisive victory over ISIS, which has been completely decimated,” Trump said.

Trump contrasted the Iraq withdrawal with the U.S. exit from Afghanistan, emphasizing that American forces had removed their equipment before leaving.

“We took all of our equipment,” Trump said. “In Afghanistan, everything was left behind. Here, I said, ‘I want every screw taken.’”

“I had a choice to stay or leave, and I felt without question that it was time for America to go home.”

Trump also praised Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi.

“This is a great day for America, and importantly, we leave Iraq having a wonderful new Prime Minister, Ali al-Zaidi,” Trump said.

“He is a fantastic guy and a friend of mine, somebody I supported from the very beginning and fully endorsed.”

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the war with Iran will be resolved quickly while touting U.S. military gains and asserting that the United States has full control of the Strait of Hormuz.

“You'll see things happening very soon,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration.

Trump also described Iran as a country whose military and economy had been devastated.

“We have a nation that's been virtually destroyed. Their economy is in bad shape, with 300% plus inflation,” he said before adding that “their navy is gone, their air force is gone, and their anti-aircraft equipment is gone."

“We have another one where we're six months in, and their military is totally wiped out,” Trump said of Iran before adding, “we're going to have that war won very quickly, one way or the other. It will be resolved one way or the other.”

Turning to Hormuz, Trump said the United States has “almost total control” of the waterway.

“I would say total control,” he said before adding that “everyone said, 'Well, they'll drop a mine in there and disrupt things a little bit,' but we have virtually total control of the strait.”

Trump also said oil shipments through the chokepoint have surged in recent days.

“In fact, in the last three days, more oil has come out of the Strait of Hormuz than at any time in history,” Trump added.

“I'm not just talking about since the war; I'm saying at any time in history. It had been pent up.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that a recent thwarted terror plot near a United Kingdom military base used by the United States involved a "foreign actor," linking the incident to global threats from adversaries such as Iran.

"What happened, what almost happened, what could have happened in the U.K. over the weekend is a very serious situation," Rubio told Fox News' "Hannity" on Monday night. "It's one that clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor."

"I won't get into great detail about that yet."

Rubio added there would be "repercussions" for threats against U.S. interests.

"I think it ties us to the reality here, and that is, we are dealing with elements in the world, and in the case of Iran, for example, who have openly threatened to attack American interests globally," he continued. "We're going to always take that very seriously. There will be repercussions for that, if it ever were to happen or even attempted."

Rubio thanked the partners in the U.K. for helping thwart the "very serious threat" of an attack.

"I want to thank the U.K. for their cooperation and their help on it," he said. "There's a lot more news that will come out on this in the days to come. But there's only so much I can say right now at this point about it, other than this was a very serious thing, and it was responded to appropriately."

British police declared a major incident at the RAF Fairford base in western England following the arrests early Sunday, and the government held a national emergency meeting.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Eric Mack.

U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham confirmed Wednesday that there are "strong indications" that Iran played a role in an alleged bombing plot targeting a U.S. air base in the U.K. this weekend.

Iran's Embassy in the U.K. had previously denied involvement in the plot, which saw five men arrested outside RAF Fairford on Saturday night.

"There are strong indications that Iran played ​a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford, but ⁠of course it remains an ongoing, complex, and serious police investigation," Burnham told the BBC ​in an interview on Wednesday.

Authorities have yet to identify the five men who were arrested.

Fox News host Sean Hannity discussed the latest developments in the U.S.-Iran conflict, including escalating tensions in the Middle East, as well reports of an attempted bombing at a U.K. military base used by U.S. forces and the broader security implications on 'Hannity.'