US President Donald Trump endorsed Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday ahead of Israel’s October 27 election and warned that Washington could “soon finish the job” against Iran, prompting Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to reply that Tehran has “unfinished jobs too”, according to Al Jazeera and The National.
The exchange, conducted largely on social media, came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was due in Tehran on Monday, a day after Gulf states asked Moscow to use its influence to stop Iranian attacks on their territory. It added a domestic Israeli dimension to a war that the United States and Israel launched against Iran on February 28 and that is now approaching its eighth month.
An endorsement framed around the Iran war
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump gave Netanyahu his “complete and total endorsement”, describing him as “strong, brave and brilliant” and a “great warrior Prime Minister”, according to The National. He said Iran’s government had been “systematically destroyed, both militarily and financially” and that the United States would “soon finish the job” unless Tehran quickly changed course.
Trump also suggested that a different Israeli leader would leave Washington to carry the burden alone, writing that “America will have to do this work ourselves”, Al Jazeera reported. Earlier this month, he had repeatedly avoided endorsing the Israeli prime minister in an interview with Time magazine. He later told Axios by phone that he had always intended to back Netanyahu but “didn’t want to do it too soon”.
Netanyahu, whose Likud party and its allies face a tight race against an opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot, said in a video released by Likud that he was “honoured and humbled”. According to AFP, carried by Al Arabiya, he said his partnership with Trump would continue “in order to eliminate the Iranian threat over the next two years, or even sooner”.
Tehran answers with its own warning
Araghchi responded on X. “Last time you wanted to ‘finish the job’, Iran emerged even stronger,” he wrote, as quoted by The National. “Want to try your luck again? Be our guest. But be careful; we have unfinished jobs too.”
Al Jazeera reported that the minister also accused Netanyahu of “driving America into another war to stay out of jail”, an apparent reference to the corruption trial the Israeli leader faces at home. On Monday, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a senior adviser to the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Iran had what he called the “father of missiles” ready to strike enemy energy infrastructure and investments across the region if attacked, according to The National.
Araghchi has meanwhile kept a diplomatic track open. The National reported that he described Tehran’s seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as “still on the table”.
Gulf states turn to Moscow
At a meeting with Lavrov in Manama on Sunday, foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council urged Russia to press Iran to comply with UN resolutions, halt attacks on Gulf states and engage in serious dialogue. GCC Secretary General Jasem Al Budaiwi said member states had faced more than 7,000 ballistic missile and drone attacks since February 28, hitting airports, ports, power stations, desalination plants and energy terminals, The National reported.
Lavrov presented an updated Russian proposal for collective security in the Gulf, built on direct dialogue among coastal states and neighbours, including Iraq and Jordan. “We all believe that it is important for all the Gulf states to have their own word in how to resolve this strategic crisis,” he said.
The diplomatic activity unfolds as pressure on shipping persists. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Monday that another tanker had struck a mine and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz, a claim that could not be independently verified.
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