US President Donald Trump said at a Kentucky campaign event on October 17 that attacks had eliminated Iran’s nuclear capacity. He also said the United States might remain in Iran longer, while promising Americans lower gasoline prices after the conflict ends.

Trump was campaigning ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. His remarks addressed both the military campaign against Iran and rising fuel costs in the United States.

Trump says Iran’s nuclear capacity is gone

The United States and Israel began attacks on Iran on February 28. Discussing those attacks, Trump said they had destroyed the country’s nuclear capacity and dealt it a severe military blow.

He repeated that Iran would not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. He defended the intervention as necessary to prevent Tehran from developing them, while describing the campaign as a small excursion.

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Whether Iran’s nuclear capacity has been eliminated has not been independently established. Trump’s remarks presented that outcome as an achievement of the attacks.

A longer presence, but a quick end

Trump said the United States could stay in Iran a little longer. He also said the process would end quickly, without giving a timetable for the American presence.

He said Iran’s weapons had been eliminated and that the United States was preventing them from returning. His comments about staying longer accompanied assurances that Iran would not be able to rebuild its weapons capabilities.

Trump promises lower gasoline prices

Trump said US gasoline prices would fall below their previous levels once the Iran conflict ended. He tied that prediction to the completion of the campaign, rather than announcing an immediate reduction in prices.

Gasoline prices had risen 45% from their prewar level, while diesel prices had increased 68%, according to Associated Press figures cited by a Spanish-language business news outlet. Both fuels therefore cost substantially more than before the fighting began.

Whether or when prices will fall as Trump predicted remains uncertain. His promise concerned prices after the conflict, while his remarks left open the possibility of a longer US presence in Iran.