President Donald Trump stated that U.S. forces will “finish the job” in Iran as “core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” defending the war in his first national address since the conflict began over a month ago.
Trump Defends Iran Offensive, Predicts End in Weeks
Trump addressed a wide audience and articulated objectives for the war after weeks of shifting goals and contradictory statements regarding de-escalation or escalation, even as Iran continued attacks on Israel and neighboring Persian Gulf countries and airstrikes targeted Tehran.
He largely repeated recent statements, suggesting the U.S. was close to achieving its military objectives in Iran and estimating a timeline of two to three weeks for concluding operations. Trump promised continued strong military action against Iran.
“For years, everyone has said that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. But in the end, those are just words if you’re not willing to take action when the time comes,” Trump said.
The President stated, “In these past four weeks our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield” and criticized past U.S. policy, saying he was correcting previous mistakes.
“The situation has been going on for 47 years and should’ve been handled long before I arrived in office,” he said.
Trump acknowledged rising oil prices and volatile financial markets, but insisted those would be temporary.
Polling indicates many Americans believe the U.S. military has gone too far in Iran, even as more American troops move into the region for a possible ground offensive. Trump did not deliver such an address closer to the initial attacks by the U.S. and Israel, raising questions about whether his message is now too late to have an impact.
Iranian missile fire targeted Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Israel shortly before Trump’s speech.
Trump Encourages Action in Strait of Hormuz
Trump suggested he had ruled out entering Iran to secure enriched uranium, though he maintained that the country “could never have a nuclear weapon”.
“The nuclear sites that we obliterated with the B-2 bombers have been hit so hard that it would take months to get near the nuclear dust,” Trump said. “And we have it under intense satellite surveillance and control. If we see them make a move, even a move for it, we’ll hit them with missiles very hard again.”
Trump urged countries reliant on oil through the Strait of Hormuz to “build some delayed courage” and “take it”.
He also stated that fighting would continue for at least a few more weeks.
“We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong,” Trump said.
Oil prices rose more than 4% and Asian stocks fell following Trump’s address, in which he stated the U.S. would continue to strongly target Iran.
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