Former U.S. President Donald Trump announced major progress in the military operation against Iran, stressing that the strategic objectives are “approaching completion.” He spoke of the extensive destruction of Iran’s military capabilities, while signaling further escalation in the coming weeks and keeping the door to negotiations open. He stressed that the United States is now “on the right track” to ending the Iranian threat.
Military objectives achieved
Trump said that, as he announced in the “Epic Rage” operation, the objectives are “very simple and very clear,” namely “to dismantle this regime’s ability to threaten America or project its influence beyond its borders.” He explained that this includes “eliminating the Iranian navy, which has been completely destroyed,” in addition to “inflicting unprecedented damage on their air force and missile program, and destroying their defense industrial base,” asserting: “We did all of that.”
He continued: “Their navy is finished. Their air force is finished. Their missiles have been almost exhausted or neutralized,” adding that these measures will “crush the Iranian military’s capacity, eliminate its ability to support terrorist proxies, and deprive it of the ability to build a nuclear bomb.”
Trump praised the performance of U.S. forces, saying they had been “exceptional,” and that “history has never seen anything like it militarily,” noting that “everyone is talking about it.” He declared that “these core strategic objectives are approaching completion,” invoking “the thirteen American warriors who gave their lives in this battle,” and stressing that they did so “to prevent our children from facing a nuclear Iran,” before adding: “We are on the right track to accomplishing all American military objectives very soon.”
The war is not over
Trump signaled further escalation in the near term, saying: “We will hit them very hard over the next two or three weeks. We will send them back to the Stone Age where they belong.” At the same time, he indicated that “discussions continue,” explaining: “Regime change was not our goal; we never said our goal was regime change,” but he added that “regime change happened because all their original leaders were killed,” adding: “They all died, and the new group is less extreme and more rational.”
He warned that “if no agreement is reached during this period,” the United States has “its eyes on major targets,” adding: “If there is no agreement, we will target every one of their power plants, very hard and perhaps simultaneously.”
Trump said the United States “did not target their oil, even though it is the easiest target of all,” justifying that by saying striking it “would not give them even a small chance to survive or rebuild,” but he added: “We can hit it, and it will disappear, and there will be nothing they can do about it.” He stressed that Iran “has no air defense equipment,” and that “their radars have been completely destroyed,” emphasizing: “We are an unstoppable military force.”
Regarding the nuclear program, he explained that “the nuclear sites we destroyed with B-2 Spirit bombers were hit so hard that approaching the nuclear dust will take months,” adding that these sites are “being heavily monitored by satellite and are under our control.” He continued: “If we see them making any move, even just an attempt, we will hit them again with missiles very hard,” asserting: “We hold all the cards, and they have nothing,” and stressing “the importance of putting this conflict in its proper context.”
The economic impact of the war
Trump directed messages to countries that “cannot get fuel,” many of which, he said, had refused to join in striking Iran, noting that “we had to do it ourselves.” He offered what he described as a “proposal,” saying: “First, buy oil from the United States of America; we have a lot of it. Second, show some belated courage,” adding that “you should have done it before… when we asked you to,” and calling on them to “go to the strait, seize it, protect it, and use it for yourselves.”
He said Iran had been “largely destroyed,” and that “the hardest part is over,” expecting that “when this conflict ends, the strait will naturally reopen,” and that Iran “will want to sell oil, because that is all they have to rebuild.” He added that “oil flows will resume, gas prices will fall quickly, and stock prices will rise quickly as well,” noting that the markets “did not fall much… in fact, they have had very good days recently,” and that performance “was better than I expected.”
The war changed Iran
Trump compared the duration of the current operation with previous wars, explaining that U.S. involvement in World War I lasted “one year, seven months, and five days,” in World War II “three years, eight months, and twenty-five days,” the Korean War “three years, one month, and two days,” the Vietnam War “nineteen years, five months, and twenty-nine days,” and the Iraq War “eight years, eight months, and twenty-eight days,” before stressing that the current operation began “just 32 days ago,” and yet the Iranian regime has been destroyed and “no longer poses a real threat,” according to his statement.
He concluded by saying that Iran “used to be the bully of the Middle East, but it no longer is,” considering what happened “a real investment in the future of your children and grandchildren,” and that “the whole world is watching and cannot believe the power, toughness, and brilliance,” adding that “the brilliance of the American military leaves them stunned.” He stressed that “every American can look forward to the day when we finally become free from the evils of Iranian aggression and from the specter of nuclear blackmail,” and that the United States is “on the verge of ending the Iranian threat to America and to the world.”
He ended his remarks by saying: “When it is all over, the United States will be safer, stronger, more prosperous, and greater than ever before… God bless the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, and God bless the United States of America… Thank you very much, and good night.”
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