Washington, March 11 -- President Donald Trump said he would waive oil-related sanctions, have the US Navy escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz and predicted on Monday that the war with Iran would resolve "very soon" as he confronted mounting economic and political pressure and days of dramatic fluctuations in oil markets. The president said he didn't believe the conflict would be over this week, but insisted the operation was ahead of schedule and looked to shore up investors increasingly concerned about energy prices. He vowed bombing "at a much, much harder level" if Iran disrupted oil supplies. "We're looking to keep the oil prices down," Trump said at a news conference at his resort in Doral, Florida. "They went artificially up because of this excursion." Trump said he could waive "certain oil-related sanctions to reduce prices" but didn't offer additional specifics, beyond acknowledging he had discussed the topic with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call earlier Monday. Russia has faced a range of restrictions on its vast oil industry, including a price cap on its crude and US sanctions on its two largest producers, in a bid to deprive the country of revenue over its war in Ukraine. Trump is mulling a menu of possible options to combat surging oil and gasoline prices in the wake of the Iran war, according to people familiar with the matter. Those could include releasing emergency stockpiles, pausing federal gas tax collections - something Congress would have to approve - and the US Treasury Department's involvement in the oil futures market. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had previously suggested the US could waive more Russian oil sanctions, after moving last week to temporarily allow Indian refiners to purchase more Russian oil. While US officials have repeatedly insisted they can continue the conflict indefinitely, Trump's remarks underscored a new willingness by the White House to publicly indicate that it could be moving soon to attempt to wrap up hostilities. "Together with our Israeli partners, we're crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force," Trump told Republican lawmakers earlier Monday. At the press conference, the president claimed the US had hit 5,000 targets in the country, said Iran's missile capability was down to 10%, and that drone launches from the country had decreased 83%. The US military objectives could be described as "pretty well complete," Trump said. At the same time, Trump acknowledged unanswered questions that remained about the leadership in Tehran and vowed he would "not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated." The president said that while the US had sunk more than 50 Iranian ships, a prolonged conflict could see the US bomb additional "important targets" including electricity production facilities. "We've already won in many ways, but we haven't won enough," he said. "We go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long-running danger once and for all."...