Trump asking when Iranians will “rise up and fight" revives questions over whether the administration’s Iran strategy is shifting beyond economic pressure and negotiations

By Nandita Bose, Humeyra Pamuk and Gram Slattery WASHINGTON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Top aides to President Donald Trump are pushing to keep the Iran war ⁠from escalating ⁠before November's midterm elections to staunch Republican electoral losses,

President Trump called on Iranians to “rise up and fight” on Tuesday as the United States seems increasingly bogged down after six months of conflict.

The U.S. and Iran have spent the previous three days trading strikes, marking the end of roughly a month of relative calm during which the White House had sought to focus almost exclusively on economic pressure.

The U.S. military hit targets in Iran on Tuesday and Tehran fired missiles and drones at various sites across the region in response as hostilities flare once again in an intermittent war that has lasted more than six months.

“Who cares if it’s Lake Ontario?” the podcaster said.

Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy questions President Donald Trump about the possibility of the Iranian people rising up against their government.

U.S. Central Command said it took “limited, precise action” against Iranian “minelaying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz” over the weekend.

The U.S. military launched new strikes Tuesday on Iran, attacks that President Donald Trump said were in retaliation for Iran's recent actions.

Iran is making clear that it has leverage, as well. Six months into the conflict — which President Donald Trump had predicted would be over in a matter of weeks — there is no real end in sight.

Voters are unhappy with President Donald Trump's ongoing war with Iran and the high cost of living in the US, according to a new Daily Mail/JL Partners poll.

President Donald Trump threatened to escalate attacks on Iran on Monday after fighting intensified on Sunday for the first time in a month.