Trump says Iran among conflicts he expects to ‘settle or win’

Iran’s parliament will hold a confidence vote on the government’s nominee for defense minister on Sunday, October 18, presidium member Ebrahim Ebrahimpour said.

Meetings have been held with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran on preparedness for nuclear emergencies, the Crisis Management Organization chief said on Saturday.

Hossein Sajedinia said the agency was ready to help carry out necessary measures and organize preparedness exercises if needed, adding that Iran had capable personnel and technology.

He also said the Tehran municipality had installed kiosks around the city equipped with sirens for wartime alerts but added that he did not know whether they worked effectively.

Sajedinia said authorities had warned before missile strikes in recent wars that oil depots in Tehran’s Shahran district and on Artesh Boulevard should be relocated, and submitted recommendations in writing after the attacks.

Iran’s state power company chief said on Saturday that infrastructure had been prepared to import electricity from Turkey through Iran’s national grid to supply petrochemical complexes.

Mohammad Allahdad said damage to utility facilities at petrochemical plants during the war meant the electricity supplied to the industries this summer was six times the amount in previous years.

He added that about 4,700 megawatts of capacity at power plants owned by Iranian industries and petrochemical companies is out of service for various reasons.

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An Iranian lawmaker referred to what he called “contradictory statements” by US officials about Iran, saying they could reflect internal disagreements or be part of an effort to disrupt Tehran’s calculations.

“These contradictions may be part of a strategy to disrupt Iranian officials’ calculations,” Abbas Goudarzi said.

The member of parliament’s presiding board also said Iran should strengthen its defensive deterrence to prevent its enemies from attacking the country.

He also said that the era of “hit and run” attacks is over, and any strike against Iran will be met with a response several times stronger.

Russia is providing missiles to Iran after Moscow reportedly helped Tehran target US bases across the region, Bloomberg reported, citing a Western official.

Egypt strongly condemned attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and a Saudi Airlines aircraft that killed three Saudi citizens and injured several civilians, the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Saturday.

Cairo described the attacks as a violation of international law and said it stood with Saudi Arabia in measures to protect its security, sovereignty and citizens. It also offered condolences to the victims’ families and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

Iran’s hardline Kayhan newspaper has urged security and intelligence agencies to investigate the return of artists and entertainers who had lived abroad, alleging their arrival could be part of a campaign of “soft cultural infiltration.”

“Their overnight change of face is less an expression of patriotism than part of a calculated project to gradually infiltrate cultural institutions and establish contact with certain decision-makers,” Kayhan said.

The newspaper, which is published under the supervision of the supreme leader’s representative, did not name any artists but made the comments after some musicians returned to Iran amid a broader government effort to encourage expatriate artists to come back.

“Security and intelligence agencies should closely scrutinize the hidden aspects and aims of these organized returns and ensure that no part of the matter goes unexamined,” it read.

The paper accused the returning figures of having campaigned against the Islamic Republic while abroad and said their return was being presented as homesickness for Iran. It argued that their return should not be treated like that of ordinary citizens living overseas.

Kayhan also urged the government to prevent media and official platforms from helping returning entertainers rebuild their public profiles.

The paper said it was not opposed to the return of Iranians living abroad, but drew a distinction between ordinary citizens and people it accused of anti-government political activity.

US President Donald Trump said he had stopped Iran from destroying Israel, the Middle East and Europe, and added that Iran was among two conflicts he expected to “settle or win,” alongside the Russia-Ukraine war.

In a Truth Social post criticizing the Nobel Peace Prize decision, Trump also said he had stopped Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“I stopped Iran from having a Nuclear Weapon, and blowing up the entire Middle East and, ultimately, far beyond! I saved more lives than anyone in History,” he wrote. “I stopped them from destroying Israel, the Middle East, and Europe.”

These were among several comments he made about his record on conflicts and international security.

Sri Lanka has no immediate plans to assist 19 Iranian ships anchored in international waters near the country despite reported shortages of food, water and fuel, the Associated Press reported Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Thushara Rodrigo said the vessels were about 24 nautical miles from Sri Lanka’s coast and that companies supplying ships were aware of the risk of US secondary sanctions.

Rodrigo said Washington had not contacted Sri Lanka to warn of repercussions if it provided assistance.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath identified the vessels as Iranian oil tankers and said they had been stranded off the country for several months after the US resumed its naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, leaving dozens of Iranian vessels unable to return home.

The Iranian Embassy in Sri Lanka said it had no details on the matter.

President Donald Trump said Friday the war with Iran would end quickly “one way or the other,” warning Tehran must “give us everything” or “not exist any longer.”

“I’m about to settle or win two more: Iran and Russia-Ukraine,” Trump said during a rally in Syracuse, New York.

Trump said he expected both wars to end “quickly” before turning specifically to Iran.

“I will tell you what. Iran will be very quick one way or the other: that they give us everything or they don’t exist any longer,” he said.

Trump made the remarks while criticizing the decision to award the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to South African jurist and former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay.

“The United States of America, represented by me as your president, should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but didn’t,” Trump said.

Pillay was awarded the prize Friday for what the Norwegian Nobel Committee described as her “efforts to promote peace and international law.”