Trump says Iran war is 'small price to pay' for keeping US safe

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. is doing “extremely well” against Iran, declaring that the country’s military is “shot” and suggesting a decision is coming soon on how to bring the conflict to an end.

“We’re doing extremely well in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump said in Sparrows Point, Maryland. “They have no military. It’s shot. The whole place is shot.”

“And they were the evil one. They were the bully of the Middle East and not so much the bully anymore,” Trump said.

“But we have to finish up, and it’s only a question of which way do we want to do it: the nice way or the not-so-nice way? And pretty soon you’ll find out.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian dismissed talks with the United States as "meaningless" Tuesday, citing ongoing U.S. sanctions, pressure and military actions against Iran.

"Our problem with the U.S. is that every time we come to the negotiating table, war is immediately imposed upon us," Pezeshkian said after a meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, according to the semi-official state media outlet Fars News Agency.

"Negotiations with an enemy that engages every day in assassinations, sanctions, pressure, and threats, and that violates agreements, are meaningless," he added.

"Our people do not accept such an approach either."

Pezeshkian's remarks came despite ongoing talks between Washington and Tehran, according to Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Iran’s oil minister, Mohsen Paknejad, resigned after saying the country has “no economy” and “no oil,” as Trump touted the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

“Iran is doing very poorly,” Trump told reporters ahead of traveling to Sparrows Point, Maryland.

“Their economy is gone. They have inflation of almost 300%, and their oil minister just quit,” Trump said. “He said, ‘We have no economy. We have no oil. We have nothing'.”

“The Strait of Hormuz — tremendous amounts, millions of barrels of oil — has been delivered just over the last couple of days.

“We’re getting it through at levels that we’re now, even in some times, exceeding prior to the war. We’ve done very well,” he said.

Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia agreed Oct. 5 to activate what they said were “deterrence measures” under a mutual defense pact and to deploy forces to the Gulf kingdom to defend against rising attacks by Yemen’s Houthis.

The decision was announced after the three countries’ defense and foreign ministers held an emergency meeting in Riyadh.

“The committee agreed to activate collective deterrence measures within the framework of the Alliance in response to the attacks and all those responsible for them,” Khalid bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s defense minister, said on X.

It marked the first time the alliance, known as the Mecca Alliance for Defense, had been invoked since it was signed Aug. 7.

Oman carried out a medical evacuation for crew members aboard the Panama-flagged oil tanker On Peace, which was attacked near the coast of Oman on Tuesday, the media office of the sultanate's armed forces said in a post on X.

Separately, India's Foreign Ministry also confirmed in a statement that 11 Indian nationals on board had been wounded, after an unknown projectile struck the tanker as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz.

The ministry did not provide details about the conditions of those wounded but condemned the incident and called for an “immediate cessation of attacks” in the waterway.

Major General Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's economic forecasts are "delusional."

"Bessent’s delusional forecasts never had any credibility in the first place. His latest propaganda will have an equally short shelf life," Rezaei said in a post on X.

He added: "You lost the military war. You will fail in the economic war, too. Hormuz will not be opened by threats or pressure. Iran will not back down."

On Sept. 1, Bessent said the Strait of Hormuz essentially won't matter in two years because of an expansion of pipelines.

"We could see the Iranians are trying to use the Strait of Hormuz as a chokepoint," he told Fox Business's Larry Kudlow. "It's not a chokepoint for the U.S., but it is a chokepoint for many other countries, but that will be bypassed in two years. In two years, the Strait of Hormuz will be a worthless piece of water. The oil will be going on pipelines across land."

The U.S. military has provided an update on the positions of its 17 warships currently deployed to the Middle East, a slightly smaller force than the number of vessels stationed in the region before the war with Iran began eight months ago.

The majority of them are in the Arabian Sea, where they are enforcing the blockade against Iran. U.S. forces have redirected 130 commercial vessels since the blockade resumed in July, U.S. Central Command said Monday.

The USS George Washington is the sole remaining U.S. aircraft carrier in the Middle East. It arrived to there in August to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln which will arrive back to its home port of San Diego this week.

Additionally there are three guided-missile destroyers in the Red Sea, according to the U.S. military.

Fox News' Liz Friden contributed to this post.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, briefly topped $100 per barrel Tuesday afternoon after trading between roughly $97 and $98 for much of the day.

Despite the surge, it remains below its September high of nearly $110 per barrel.

Major-General Turki al-Malki, the spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, said his forces have intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis.

The missile was headed toward Khamis Mushait, a city in southern Saudi Arabia, according to al-Malki.

The Houthis said Tuesday that 200 Saudi-backed troops have been killed or wounded in a series of attacks in Yemen.

The Iran-backed terror group said the alleged casualties it was able to inflict on the Saudi forces was unprecedented "in terms of personnel and equipment."

Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the attacks occurred in Ras al-Aara and al-Saqi, villages on the western side of Yemen.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that two of its airports, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Airport and Najran International Airport, were targeted in attacks. Three people suffered minor injuries, and there was some property damage.

Saudi Arabia did not reveal who it suspected was behind the strikes.

Saudi Arabia's energy minister said that as of Tuesday, 5.8 million barrels of oil per day is pumping through the East-West pipeline, which was attacked by drones originating from Iraq last month.

Speaking at an event in Bahrain, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the cross-country pipeline returned to service five or six days after the “big hit,” Bloomberg reported.

It remains unclear who was behind the attack. Iraq has confirmed that the drones were launched from its territory, while President Donald Trump has said Iran was “probably” responsible. Tehran has denied any involvement.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Tuesday denied reports from Iranian state television that a U.S. Navy MH-60R Seahawk helicopter crashed in the Red Sea after declaring an emergency near Saudi Arabia on Monday night.

The reports emerged after the helicopter, flying near Yanbu, disappeared from publicly available flight-tracking data.

CENTCOM said all U.S. aircraft and personnel in the Middle East were safe and accounted for.

British police said they arrested a 22-year-old British man in connection with a suspected terror plot against RAF Fairford, the airbase the United States had been using to strike Iran.

The man was arrested in Westminster and officers searched a property in the same area, Counter Terrorism Policing said, according to Reuters.

"This remains a live investigation and our specialist teams continue to pursue multiple lines of enquiry into the circumstances surrounding events near RAF Fairford," Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing Vicki Evans said on Tuesday.

The U.S. withdrew its B-1 bombers from the base, about 92 miles west of London, after President Donald Trump said there were unspecified threats. The base is the only European forward operating location for American heavy bombers.

U.S. officials later said the threats may have been linked to an Iranian plot to target the military installation. Iran has denied any involvement in the alleged operation.

Reuters contributed to this post.

Bahrain's foreign ministry released a statement Tuesday saying it "strongly condemned and denounced the continued blatant attacks by the Houthi terrorist militia against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." 

The statement said the attacks have targeted "civilians and civilian and economic infrastructure, as well as the holy cities of Mecca and Medina," Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh, "and the cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan, Najran, Taif and Yanbu, as well as Saudi vessels in the southern Red Sea and the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait.

"The Ministry reaffirmed Bahrain’s full solidarity with Saudi Arabia and support for all measures it takes to protect its security and sovereignty and the safety of its citizens and residents," the statement continued, adding that Bahrain is calling "on the United Nations Security Council, particularly its permanent members, to fulfil its responsibilities in bringing an end to these attacks and the threats they pose to maritime security and energy supplies." 

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO) said Tuesday that an oil tanker reported being struck by an "unknown projectile" in the Strait of Hormuz. 

The incident happened on Monday, according to the agency. 

"Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO," it added. 

The UKMTO said last Friday that the threat environment in the Middle East "remains elevated" for commercial shipping as "no diplomatic resolution has been achieved."   

It assessed the risks as following: "Strait of Hormuz SEVERE (hostile action highly likely, continued navigation interference and potential mining activity); Gulf of Oman MODERATE (ongoing electronic interference and enforcement activity); Arabian Gulf MODERATE (navigation interference and residual kinetic risk remain present)."   

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday allowing tax-free, red-dyed diesel typically used by farmers to be sold for highway use.

The fuel is exempt from the 24.4-cent-per-gallon federal diesel tax and is dyed red to alert authorities when it is being used to evade the tax.

Trump is allowing truckers to use the fuel through the end of the year while deferring other associated taxes in an effort to lower diesel prices, which now average $6.31 per gallon nationwide, according to AAA.

Trump signed the executive order on Monday during his remarks at the Nebraska State Fair.

"The typical trucker will save over $100 every time they fill up. So it's more than $100 each time. And farmers will also save millions and millions of dollars," Trump said.

While campaigning for Nebraska Republicans on Monday, President Donald Trump offered several updates on the Iran war, saying the United States remains in a strong strategic position.

"We're kicking Iran's a--, you do know that right?" Trump said during his speech in Grand Island at the Nebraska State Fair. "It's going to end very soon, and your prices are going to come down. All your prices have been tumbling down."

The president reiterated that U.S. forces have been able to "knock out" Iran's navy, air force and the broader leadership structure of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

He also said the Iran war is a "small price to pay" to keep the U.S. and the world safe from Tehran.

"They can take out a city," Trump said, before specifically calling out two U.S. cities. "Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay."

The comments drew criticism from multiple California Democrats.

"After sending the National Guard and Marines to occupy California, Donald Trump is now saying our foreign enemies should 'take out' Los Angeles and San Diego," California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on X. "He is deranged and dangerous."

"Keep LA out of your damn mouth," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass wrote.

"San Diego is not collateral damage. We are not expendable. And we are never a "small price to pay," added San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. "Keep our city out of your reckless war talk."

When Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment, a spokesperson pointed to Steven Cheung's social media post clarifying Trump's comments.

"The media freakout over President Trump’s comments is not rooted in reality. He was clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn't been stopped. America is safer because of the President. Iran has no nuclear, no navy, no air force, and no money," the White House's communications director wrote Tuesday morning.

A Tuesday attack on the Panama-flagged MT On Peace while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz injured 12 crew members, including 11 Indian nationals, India’s foreign ministry said.

The vessel had a 19-member crew. The injured sailors were evacuated with assistance from Omani authorities and taken to Khasab, Oman, for medical treatment.

"The continuing incidents of attacks on shipping in the region remain a cause of deep concern for India. We reiterate our call for an immediate cessation of such attacks in the interests of peace and stability in the region," the Indian government said.  

The statement continued: "The targeting of commercial shipping, seafarers and civilian infrastructure in the region must end, and navigation and commerce through international waterways must be restored at the earliest."

President Donald Trump told Fox News correspondent Lucas Tomlinson on Monday that he thinks Iran was behind the attempted attack aboard a Tel Aviv-bound FlyDubai flight on Sept. 30.

“And on FlyDubai. Do you think Iran was responsible for that terrorist attack?” Tomlinson asked.

Trump said, “I do, I personally do.”

The Tel Aviv-bound FlyDubai flight had landed safely in Saudi Arabia after passengers and crew subdued the co-pilot, who attacked the captain and tried to crash the plane.