Trump's Iran decision, Gulf diplomacy, and Sweden's leftward shift

Trump weighs a 'big decision' on Iran war as Gulf states seek alternatives and Sweden swings left.

Trump's Iran decision, Gulf diplomacy, and Sweden's leftward shift — US President Donald Trump said in an interview with Channel 12 that he faces a "big decision" on whether to return to a large-scale war in Iran. "I have a big decision to make. Do I want to go in and eliminate them [the Iranian regime] or not," Trump said, adding that "no ship has reached Iran since we started. They tried and we blew them up."[^1] The statement comes after Trump refrained from renewing large-scale military activity in Iran in early August, following concerns from Saudi and Qatari leaders about Iranian retaliation against their oil and gas facilities.[^1] Meanwhile, a source familiar with the matter revealed this evening (Thursday) on Kan News that Israel and Kuwait are conducting quiet contacts against the backdrop of Iranian attacks on the Gulf state.[^3] A former Kuwaiti minister told Kan News that cooperation between Gulf states and Israel is a "win-win" for curbing common enemies and maintaining regional security and stability.[^3] Separately, Saudi Arabia has turned to China for help in curbing the Houthis in Yemen, following a broad military blitz by the Iran-backed group over the past week. The Houthi terrorist organization is exploiting recent military successes along Yemen's western coast and moving the campaign to a new and alarming phase: permanent military entrenchment around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. In Europe, four days after the closely contested elections in Sweden, the election committee announced that the center-left bloc of parties, led by former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, won by a narrow margin over the outgoing center-right coalition of Ulf Kristersson. Andersson's bloc secured 176 seats in the 349-seat parliament, while the right-wing bloc received 173 seats. The gap between the blocs stands at just 50,359 votes out of more than 6.8 million voters. Andersson's Social Democrats lost 8 seats but remained the largest party with 99 seats, while Kristersson's conservative Moderate Party received 70 seats, and the far-right Sweden Democrats dropped to third place with 62 seats. Houthi naval mines and a widening Red Sea front — Shin Bet chief David Zi