Calling the Iran conflict a shame, Trump says the only reason he is doing it is to stop death
As the United States remains engaged in a protracted conflict with Iran, President Donald Trump on Thursday once again asserted that he had brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, adding that it was a quick one as well.
Speaking at a cabinet briefing, Trump said he had handled complex conflicts swiftly. “I solved the other ones in one day that had been going on for 32 years. We stopped one that was starting. It was already started. India and Pakistan,” he said.
Referring to Pakistan, he added, “The prime minister of Pakistan is a very fine gentleman, [he] said: ‘President Trump solved something that was going to cost millions of lives’ — two nuclear nations. Those were complicated, but we got them done quickly.”
“This one, it’s a shame. The only reason I am doing it is because I want to stop death,” he said, referring to the ongoing conflict involving Iran.
The US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28 after saying they had failed to make enough headway in talks aimed at ending Iran’s nuclear programme, although mediator Oman said significant progress had been made. The US struck Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025.
Since the start of “Operation Epic Fury” by the US in February, Iran has defended itself by striking US bases inside Gulf countries, Gulf energy infrastructure after its own infrastructure was hit, and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. Four weeks into the war that has killed thousands of Middle Eastern civilians, because of Israeli-US attacks and Iranian retaliation, created the worst energy shock in history and sparked global inflation fears, there has been no let-up in airstrikes from Israel, nor retaliation from Iran.
The military escalation between India and Pakistan was triggered following an attack on tourists in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. New Delhi attributed the attack to Pakistan without presenting any evidence. Islamabad rejected the allegations and called for an independent investigation. In response, India launched air strikes on Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir in the wee hours of May 7, 2025, leading to four days of hostilities that concluded with Trump’s mediation on May 10.
Trump has repeatedly said that he brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan when he announced that both countries had agreed to a “full and immediate” truce. He has continued to cite the development while referring to conflicts he says he has helped resolve during his time in office.
While India has denied any mediation by Trump, Pakistan has credited the US president with helping avert a war between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Trump referred to the conflict as recent as last month when he appreciated the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir as he spoke at the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace here.
“Thank you very much, Prime Minister Sharif. I like this man … and field marshal, a great general, [and a] great field marshal,” Trump told the international gathering of world leaders, including those from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Qatar and others.
Referring to the Pakistan-India war, the US president had recalled PM Shehbaz’s remarks that Trump had saved the lives of 25 million people by intervening to stop the war between the two nuclear powers.
At an event held at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida in December 2025, Trump reiterated his claim that he had helped prevent a war between Pakistan and India in May that year. He had also praised CDF Munir, calling him a “highly respected general”.
Referring to tensions between the two countries, Trump said, “It would have been a nuclear war, in my opinion. They were really going at it; planes were shot down.”
Earlier, at the Asia-Pacific summit in South Korea in October, he had again said that he prevented a war between India and Pakistan by threatening both countries with 250% tariffs.
