Some of Trump’s Iran war objectives remain unfulfilled as he looks to wind down conflict

Washington: President Donald Trump listed five goals the US wants to achieve before ending its war with Iran.

Now, as the US suggests it will soon “terminate” the operation after three and a half weeks, some of its key objectives remain undefined or fulfilled.

Trump outlined five goals for his latest major air campaign. That’s more than the four figures put forward by his own staff and since the war began on February 28 (and the three figures listed overall by the Pentagon and Secretary of State Marco Rubio).

Also Read: US-Iran war: What to know about possible talks to end West Asian conflict

While the Trump administration has maintained that its goals are clear and unchanging, its list of priorities has expanded and shifted as the war has wreaked havoc on the global economy, testing alliances and raising unanswered questions about the planning, justification and aftermath of the conflict.

By most accounts, attacks by the United States and Israel have significantly weakened Iran’s military capabilities and led to the deaths of several senior leaders. However, these tactical successes may not mean that the president will achieve all of his strategic goals.
Some of his goals are difficult to achieve, and if the United States walks away with unfinished goals and Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps remains in power, Trump could face domestic political consequences and global repercussions for what was accomplished in his decision to launch a war that upended the Middle East and upended the global economy. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the operation was “a great success, Iran’s navy has been destroyed, Iran’s defense industrial base has been destroyed, Iran’s defense industrial base has been dismantled, and the dreams of having a nuclear weapon are being shattered more and more by the day.”

Also Read: Iran tells UN: ‘Non-enemy’ ships can pass through Strait of Hormuz

Here’s a look at the goals laid out in Trump’s remarks on Friday and where they stand:

1. ‘Completely Insulting to Iran’s Missile Capability’

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One of the president’s primary goals for Iran is to “destroy their missiles and destroy their missile industry.”

Management says talent is significantly diminished.

But four weeks into the war, Iran is still launching missiles and drones, including a series of barrages aimed at Israel early Tuesday after Trump claimed negotiations with Iran were ongoing.

In an update last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Iran’s missile and drone programs have been “largely destroyed” and ballistic missile attacks on U.S. forces have “reduced 90 percent since the beginning of the conflict.”

Trump repeated that 90 percent statistic on Monday, saying: “They can’t throw them out, and they don’t have many of them because most of them have been destroyed.” He added that 82 percent of Iran’s missile launchers had been “killed” on Tuesday.

2. ‘Destruction of Iran’s Defense Industrial Base’

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Before Friday, the president and his administration sometimes listed it as a standalone goal, describing it as a goal of “shattering missile industries.”

Other times it fell off the list. The Pentagon generally considers this as the first goal of destroying Iran’s missile capacity.

U.S. Central Command said attack targets in Iran include weapons production and missile and unmanned aerial vehicle production facilities. However, Iran’s attacks against its Gulf neighbors and Israel continue.

3. ‘Abolishing the Navy and Air Force’

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The United States and Israel quickly established air superiority in the skies over Iran, where they flew largely unchallenged.

The United States damaged or destroyed more than 140 Iranian ships, U.S. Central Command said Monday.

Also Read: Pete Hegseth ‘disappointed’ by Iran ceasefire: Trump

After a US submarine torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship in early March, two other Iranian ships (IRIS Bushehr and IRIS Lavan) approached Sri Lanka and India and requested assistance from the two countries. Since then, there has been no indication from the United States that these ships were sunk or captured.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has its own navy, which also relies on smaller ships to conduct swarm attacks and drop mines.

It is unclear how much of this force remains or whether it has planted any mines. However, Iranian missiles continue to disrupt shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

4. ‘We Will Never Let Iran Approach Nuclear Capability’

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Trump made a marked change last year after announcing that the United States had “destroyed” Iran’s nuclear program in June; but his aides have warned that Iran is just weeks away from a bomb to justify current operations.

The United States has not announced new attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities, but Israel has announced a series of attacks on nuclear-related targets, including the killing of a top Iranian nuclear scientist.

One of the most pressing questions in the war is whether Trump will try to seize or destroy Tehran’s roughly 970 kilograms of enriched uranium that could be used as weapons.

Trump said Monday for the first time that the United States would recover uranium believed to be buried deep inside a mountain facility.

However, he noted that this could only happen if the United States makes some sort of deal with Iran to get the United States back. Experts say seizing it without Iran’s permission would be a dangerous mission that would involve the deployment of large amounts of US troops to the country.

5. ‘Protecting our Middle Eastern Allies at the highest level’

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Trump added his fifth goal for the United States in a social media post on Friday: “Protecting our Middle Eastern Allies, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and others, to the fullest extent. The Strait of Hormuz will need to be protected and controlled when necessary by the other Nations that use it – which the United States does not do!”

The United States already maintains thousands of troops at bases and other facilities in the region, and it is unclear how far Trump is willing to go to protect his allies in the Middle East from threats and Iran could still attack those countries.

It is also unclear how far the United States is willing to go to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. Trump remained undecided on whether the United States should take a role in overseeing this. On Monday, he extended the deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on power plants.

Regime change is not officially on the list

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Trump has talked of regime change since the start of the war and encouraged the Iranian people to “take over your government” after Israel, with US help, launched attacks that killed Iran’s supreme leader and much of its senior leadership.

But while Trump and his administration have made clear they want to end the 47-year reign of the oppressive theocracy, they have never explicitly stated regime change in Iran as a goal.

“The leaders are all very different from the leaders who created all these problems to begin with,” Trump said Tuesday. he said.

After a while he added: “This is a regime change, isn’t it?”

Now the US claims to be in talks with elements of the same Iranian government to bring a quick end to the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to maritime traffic. And it looks like these hopes for the Iranian people will continue to come true.

Also off the list: Cutting off support for Iranian proxy groups

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Trump administration officials offered few updates on that goal, which the president described as “ensuring that terrorist proxies in the region do not destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces” and that “the Iranian regime cannot continue to arm, finance, and direct terrorist armies beyond its borders.”

As the United States strikes pro-Iran militia groups in Iraq and Israel appears to be expanding operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, the administration has not provided details on how Tehran will permanently halt its support for militant groups.

The White House said in a statement that ensuring proxies in Iran do not further destabilize the region remains a key goal, and that “the proxies have barely put up a fight because our United States Military is so powerful and lethal.”