On Monday, May 25, 2026, the US and Iran got closer to ending their three-month war, but politics in Washington might slow everything down. While Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a peace deal could happen “today,” President Donald Trump told his team “not to rush into it.” Experts say the timing of this deal is heavily tied to the upcoming November elections, showing exactly how Trump is dragging out the Iran War to save Midterm Polls and help his party win votes.
The 60-Day Election Timeline
The peace deal being discussed right now in Qatar has a built-in delay that helps the White House control the news for the next few months. The initial agreement gives both countries 60 days to finalize a full peace treaty. If Trump signs the deal now, the 60-day deadline will hit right in late July or August. This keeps Trump in the news as a “peacemaker” right when election campaigning starts heating up.
The “Nuclear Dust” Rule
Iran has agreed to hand over its enriched uranium, which Trump calls “nuclear dust,” but the complicated rules on how to do this will be delayed and talked about during the 60-day window to keep the story alive.
Using a War to Win Elections
Trump started this war with Iran three months ago, and the fighting has caused massive problems for regular people. It sent US gas prices up to an expensive $4.51 a gallon, which made voters angry and started hurting Republican poll numbers. Now that the elections are coming up, Trump is trying to fix the problem on his own specific schedule.
On Sunday, Trump openly admitted he told his negotiators to slow down. Then on Monday, he added a brand-new demand on Truth Social: he said that major countries like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Jordan must instantly sign the Abraham Accords (peace deals with Israel) or the Iran deal is off. He knows that is almost impossible for those countries to do right now. He is intentionally creating new hurdles because he doesn’t want a quiet summer. He wants a long, dramatic countdown that wraps up right before voting starts so he can claim he saved the day and lowered gas prices just in time.
The Secret Terms and the Pushback
As the details of the peace plan leak out, Trump is facing pressure from both American politicians and Iranian leaders.
Anger from Republicans: Some Republican lawmakers called the plan a “disastrous mistake” because it gives Iran too much money back too quickly. Trump got angry and called his critics “fools” on social media.
Iranian officials are being very careful. They warned that a final deal is “not imminent” (not happening right away) and said the US needs to stop its naval blockade before any real peace happens. Even though Trump is slowing things down, just the news that the two sides are talking caused global oil prices to drop by $5, bringing gas prices down slightly.
Voting Over Peace
Right now, negotiators are in Doha, Qatar, trying to stop the fighting. The basic deal is simple: the US will lift its naval blockade and help Iran’s bad economy, and Iran will stop making nuclear weapons and reopen the Strait of Hormuz shipping route. But as long as the White House cares more about midterm election polls than actual global peace, the war will be dragged out to fit the political calendar.
