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, four people familiar with the discussions said, a strategy already under strain as the US and Iran exchanged back-and-forth attacks overnight. White House officials will consider ramping up military action after the November 3 vote, said the sources, who requested anonymity to describe internal thinking, though any return to full-scale conflict is far from a given.

The US military said its latest strikes were retaliation for recent attacks on American forces and marine traffic in the region. For now, the sources said, the administration wants to rely on applying more economic pressure on Iran in an effort to extract concessions in any future negotiations that months of military action failed to secure. We are keeping the pressure on Iran, but November is a priority, one White House official said.

Keeping the war mostly contained until then would help prevent the unpopular conflict from dominating public opinion. Only 31% of Americans approve of the war, while some 63% disapprove, according to polls. A tactical pause could also give the US military some breathing room to replenish its heavily depleted munitions stockpiles, the sources said. But pulling off the play-it-cool strategy looks more difficult by the day.

While the conflict remains much less intense than it was during the spring or during a flare-up in the middle of the summer, both sides have exchanged tit-for-tat strikes in recent days. Iran's leaders, emboldened after months of disrupting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and facing little internal unrest, will likely keep striking at US and allied Gulf targets, including military bases, vessels and energy infrastructure, at least periodically, analysts said.