US and Israeli forces have heavily bombed Iran’s military and killed a swath of the country’s leadership so far in the nearly six-month war, launched initially with goals including forcing Tehran to abandon its nuclear power programme and regime change.
Iran has resisted with missile attacks on US bases in the region, Israel and targets in US-allied Gulf countries.
Its most effective response has been to strike shipping in Hormuz, effectively snarling the trade route, rattling the world economy.
With his political popularity sinking at home ahead of the November midterm congressional elections, Trump has backed off threats to escalate the war in search of a decisive victory.
That leaves the war in a standoff.
However, the Republican says that the US is prepared to focus on blockading Iranian ports in a strategy that he told Axios was “low-keying”.
“We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,” Trump told Axios on Sunday.
