‘We have all the cards’: Trump says US war on Iran ‘nearing completion’ | Donald Trump
Donald Trump addressed the nation on Wednesday evening to declare the month-long war in Iran a “near completion” success, despite a growing conflict that has caused economic turmoil around the world, torn apart transatlantic alliances and is a success. worn out president’s approval ratings.
In remarks from the White House, Trump argued that the US’s “little trip” to Iran had achieved nearly “all of America’s military objectives” but offered little clarity on how he plans to end the conflict in the next “two to three weeks.”
“We are on the verge of ending Iran’s sinister threat to America and the world,” Trump said in his 19-minute speech in the Cross Hall of the White House. “We have all the cards. They don’t have any of them.”
Acknowledging the economic pain caused by the conflict, he blamed the “short-term” rise in gas prices on Iran’s actions and insisted that the United States had become energy independent.
Oil prices rose as the US president reiterated his call for governments to help secure the global oil chokepoint, comments that did little to ease market concerns about closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz. “Take it and cherish it,” he implored the countries that trusted him.
Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz since the beginning of the conflict amid its ongoing attacks on oil and gas tankers and other commercial vessels, causing oil prices to rise. Natural gas prices in the USA rose above average $4 a gallon This week for the first time since 2022.
Listing the list of achievements, Trump said that Iran’s navy and air forces have been largely destroyed, the country remains weak and is no longer a threat to the United States and the world. But he said the US would continue to hit Iran “extremely hard” over the next few weeks.
Although he said “discussions are ongoing,” he said, “We will bring them back to the stone age, where they belong.”
However, the war continues with the deaths of thousands of people in Iran and countries in the Middle East since the war began on February 28. Strikes shook Tehran on Wednesday morning. Israel, on the other hand, claimed that it had launched two waves of attacks on Tehran and killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
Iran continued to retaliate with missile attacks on central Israel and the Middle East; This includes a dam built just hours before the start of the Jewish holiday of Passover.
According to estimates by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, at least 1,900 people have been killed and 20,000 injured in Iran since the start of the war, although exact figures are difficult to verify.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the country’s health ministry. Most of the dead were Lebanese civilians, but Hezbollah estimates around 400 were its fighters.
In Israel, a total of 19 people have died and 515 people have been injured since the start of the war.
At least 13 American soldiers were killed and hundreds were injured.
U.S. forces have struck more than 12,300 targets inside Iran since the start of Operation Epic Fury, according to a statement released Wednesday by U.S. Central Command.
Since the beginning of the war, the Trump administration has sent mixed and at times contradictory signals regarding U.S. goals. Trump has repeatedly claimed that Iran’s leadership wants a ceasefire, and in a social media post on Wednesday said Iran’s “head of the new regime” “just asked for a ceasefire,” which Tehran called “false and unfounded.”
Moreover, it was not clear who the US president was talking to; Iran has a new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who replaced his father, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after he was killed on the opening day of US-led airstrikes on Iran. Iranian president Massoud Pezeshkian took office in July 2024.
Pezeshkian addressed the American people directly with his own message ahead of the president’s speech on Wednesday. “Exactly what interests of the American people does this war serve?” Pezeshkian asked this question in a letter published in English on the X account. “Did Iran have an objective threat that would justify such behavior?”
Pezeshkian claimed that the United States entered the war at Israel’s insistence and insisted that Iran’s attacks on its neighbors were “a measured response based on legitimate self-defense.”
“Is ‘America first’ really a priority for the U.S. government today?” he asked.
Further complicating the picture, Trump lashed out at U.S. allies in a series of escalating social media posts and interviews, citing their refusal to join the war effort and failure to act on reopening the Strait of Hormuz. He did not mention NATO in his remarks on Wednesday evening, but told Reuters earlier in the day that he was considering withdrawing from NATO “absolutely without question”.
He also told the Telegraph he was “never impressed” by the 77-year-old military alliance and “always knew they were paper tigers”.
While Trump suggested that the ceasefire would depend on Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz, he stated that US forces “could get out of Iran pretty quickly.” He left open the possibility of a “point strike” within Iran if necessary.
The president also took care in his speech to distinguish the current conflict from America’s past wars, which were often protracted, and described the 32-day military campaign as “very powerful, very brilliant.”
With the war now in its fifth week, the United States’ primary objectives remain unclear. Trump downplayed concerns about Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, dismissing that the stockpile was too buried underground to matter. He had previously argued that preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons was the main justification for the war. Analysts dispute the US president’s claims that Iran is close to producing nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, thousands of US troops remain stationed in the region, offering a broader ground offensive option after weeks of airstrikes targeting Iran.
