U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday reiterated that the ongoing U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran can end within two or three weeks, adding that bombardments and discussions aimed at ending the conflict will continue simultaneously.
In a 19-minute nationally televised address, he maintained that the conflict had delivered a “decisive, overwhelming victory” to the U.S. Washington, he claimed, is “getting very close” to finishing the “job.” However, he continued, the U.S. and Israel would hit Iran “extremely hard over the next” two to three weeks.
“We are going to bring them back to the stone ages, where they belong,” he said. “In the meantime, discussions are ongoing,” he added.
Claiming Iran’s military capacity has been severely degraded, he alleged Tehran’s missiles and drone systems have been “dramatically curtailed and their weapons factories and rocket launches are being blown to pieces.” He also claimed “never in the history of warfare has an enemy suffered such clear and devastating large-scale losses in a matter of weeks.”
Acknowledging Iran’s retaliatory strikes, he claimed its “ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed.”
Confirming the targeting of nuclear facilities in recent days, he claimed “it would take months to get near the nuclear dust.” He reiterated that Iran would never be permitted to acquire nuclear weapons, alleging Tehran had “raced for a nuclear weapon like no one has ever seen before.” Neutral observers have rejected this claim.
Trump claimed Israel’s survival would have been jeopardized had the 2015 nuclear agreement remained intact. “Israel wouldn’t exist if the Obama nuclear agreement had continued,” he claimed, asserting that the U.S. had not pursued regime change but it had effectively occurred.
“Regime change was not our goal. We never said regime change, but regime change has occurred because of all of their original leaders’ death. They’re all dead,” he said.
During his address, the U.S. president also reiterated that the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane would “open up naturally” once the conflict ends. Urging countries reliant on Gulf energy to assume responsibility for securing it, he said the U.S. would help them but they had to take the lead in protecting it.
Trump similarly dismissed the ongoing economic impact of the conflict on America, saying the economy remained strong. He recalled that the U.S. involvement in World War I was 1 year and 7 months; World War II 3 years, 8 months, 25 days; the Korean War 3 years, 1 month, 2 days; the Vietnam War 19 years, 5 months, 29 days; and the Iraq War 8 years, 8 months, 28 days. The present conflict, by contrast, had spanned 32 days. “It’s very important that we keep this conflict in perspective,” he said. “We are in this military operation so powerful, so brilliant against one of the most powerful countries for 32 days, and the country has been eviscerated and essentially is really no longer a threat … This is a true investment in your children and your grandchildren’s future,” he added.