Trump Says He Is Close to Deciding Between an Iran Deal and Renewed Military Action

President Donald Trump said in a Fox News interview on Sunday that he is close to deciding whether to make a deal with Iran or end the conflict militarily, saying the time for a decision is approaching. He named Pickaxe Mountain, a deeply buried site linked to Iran's nuclear program, as a possible U.S. target and said the other three nuclear sites are obliterated. The last confirmed U.S. strikes on Iran were on Sept. 1, and Trump has said strikes would not resume until after the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Mediators from Qatar visited Tehran on Sunday, according to Reuters, and Tehran says it is preparing a military response to any U.S. attack. Iran-backed Houthi militants continued attacks on Saudi Arabia over the weekend. Trump repeated that the U.S. controls the Strait of Hormuz, citing crude oil flows back at pre-war levels, though energy prices remain elevated amid disruption and a global refining squeeze. On Saturday, Iran's ambassador to Islamabad, Reza Amiri Moghadam, said Iran remains open to talks under a Pakistan-brokered interim deal from June. He said Iran told Pakistan it would reopen the strait if Washington lifted its naval blockade, and accused the U.S. of undermining diplomacy. Also Saturday, Mojtaba Khamenei, unseen in public since the war began, met judiciary head Mohseni Ejei, and a readout said Iran would pursue compensation from the U.S. and Israel.

Right-leaning outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing; left-leaning and alternative/independent outlets had. CBS News, on the left, puts Trump's deal-or-force choice in its headline but opens with Iran: the Khamenei–Ejei meeting, the compensation pledge, the U.S. rejection of earlier reconstruction demands, the strike that killed the leader's father and relatives, and the ambassador's account of the blockade and talks. In the portion available, it does not mention Pickaxe Mountain, Qatar, the Houthis or markets. CNBC, in the alternative group, takes a distinct market angle: it leads with Trump's Fox quotes, adding the Qatari visit, Houthi attacks, the midterm timeline, oil flows and energy prices, and leaves out the Iranian leadership. Both cover Trump weighing options and the Strait of Hormuz, but differ on whose claims about it they feature.