Breakthrough or escalation? Donald Trump to announce ‘important’ Iran war update tomorrow

US President Donald Trump will address the nation on 2 April to provide an ‘important’ update on Iran, White House said on Wednesday. The address will be delivered at 9 pm US time Thursday (6.30 AM IST). White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said

“Tomorrow at 9 pm ET, President Trump will give an address to the nation to provide an important update on Iran,” she wrote.

The announcement comes as the Iran war involving US and Israeli forces enters its second month, with fresh polling indicating growing unease among Americans over the prolonged hostilities.

Hours before the White House announcement, Trump said the military could end its Iran offensive in two to three weeks and would shift responsibility for the Strait of Hormuz to countries that rely on it for oil and shipping. "Tehran," the US president said, "did not have to make a deal as a prerequisite for the war to end."

"We'll be leaving very soon," President Trump was quoted by news agency Reuters as telling reporters at the White House on 31 March (local time).

On the Iranian side, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged receiving direct messages from US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.

The comments by Abbas Araghchi came in an interview with Al Jazeera aired late Tuesday. Araghchi, however, insisted that the messages didn’t constitute negotiations.

President Trump has repeatedly described Iran and the US as having talks over the war, while Pakistan has been a key intermediary along with Egypt and Turkey during the conflict.

“I receive messages from Witkoff directly, as before, and this does not mean that we are in negotiations,” he said, adding that Iran doesn’t have any faith that negotiations with the US will yield any results. “The trust level is at zero,” he said.

Asked about a possible ground offensive by the US, Araghchi said, "We are waiting for them.”

“We know very well how to defend ourselves,” Araghchi said.

“In a ground war, we can do it even better. We are fully ready to confront any ground attack. We hope they do not make such a mistake.”

Exit could take place 'within two weeks'

In comments to reporters at the White House, Trump said the exit could take place "within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three."

It's been over a month since the West Asia war began with joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran. Tensions escalated following the killing of 86-year-old Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the military strikes on 28 February.

In retaliation, Iran targeted Israeli and US assets across several Gulf countries, causing further disruptions to the waterway and impacting international energy markets as well as global economic stability, disrupting trade routes through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump also clarified on Tuesday that a deal was not a prerequisite for the US to end “Operation Epic "Fury" — the term used for the military strikes on Iran.

"Iran doesn't have to make a deal, no," he said. "No, they don't have to make a deal with me."

The fresh remarks are clearly a shift from the earlier stance by the US president. On Monday, Trump warned Iran that if a deal were not finalised in the near term and the Strait of Hormuz were not reopened, the US could escalate its response. He said, in a Truth Social post, this could include strikes on Iran’s key infrastructure, including power facilities, oil fields, Kharg Island, and possibly desalination plants, targets he claimed had so far been deliberately avoided.

Washington had previously threatened to intensify operations if Tehran did not accept a 15-point US ceasefire framework that had among its core demands that Iran commit not to pursue nuclear weapons, halt all uranium enrichment and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News Channel's "Hannity" program that there was potential for a meeting between both sides "at some point" and the United States could "see the finish line."

"It's not today, it's not tomorrow, but it is coming," Rubio added.

These statements come amid two-thirds of Americans believing the US should work to end its involvement in the Iran war quickly, even if that means not achieving the goals set out by the Trump administration, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Iran playing a long game: Vali Nasr

Experts said Iran could sustain its counteroffensive more easily and for far longer. Furthermore, they said, a ceasefire alone will not lift the shadow of risk that Iran has imposed over the Gulf, which is now experiencing its nightmare scenario.

“That is why Iranian leaders are saying they will not accept a ceasefire until Washington fully grasps the global economic cost of waging this war,” wrote Vali Nasr, an Iranian-American academic and political scientist.

It's not today, it's not tomorrow, but it is coming.

Nasr, who specialises in Middle Eastern studies and the history of Islam, is the Majid Khaddouri Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC

“Businesses, investors and tourists may not return to the Gulf states if they assume that war could resume again. Unless the US is prepared to invade Iran to remove the Islamic republic’s leaders and then stay there to ensure stability and security, confidence in the Gulf will only return if the US and Iran arrive at a durable ceasefire,” Nasr, who is the author of Iran's Grand Strategy, wrote in the Financial Times in March.