President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday he won’t send troops to the Middle East and said he ordered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop striking Iranian energy infrastructure.
The comments came after a rapid overnight escalation: Israel hit Iran’s South Pars gas field on Wednesday, and Iran retaliated with missiles targeting LNG facilities in Qatar, refineries in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and gas infrastructure in the UAE.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the U.S. has struck over 7,000 targets across Iran and sunk more than 120 Iranian ships, even as Trump maintained he won’t deploy ground forces.
Iran’s strategy appears to be attrition: keep the Strait shut, spread the pain across Gulf allies, and wait for the economic pressure to force Washington to the table.
What Prediction Markets Say
Polymarket’s U.S.-Iran ceasefire market, with $22.2 million in volume, gives just 6% odds of a deal by March 31. …
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