Washington: President Donald Trump said that the US campaign against Iran would end “very soon”, defining victory as the point at which Tehran no longer has the capacity to develop weapons that could threaten the United States, Israel, or its allies.
At a Florida news conference, Trump said the military campaign had already destroyed major elements of Iran’s military capability and leadership.
“No. But I think soon,” Trump said when asked how long the conflict might last. “Very soon.”
Trump said the United States had already severely degraded Iran’s military structure, including its naval power, missile systems, and drone capability.
“Everything they have is gone, including their leadership,” he said.
“In fact, there are two levels of leadership and even actually, as it turns out more than that.”
The president said the US and Israeli forces had struck thousands of targets during the operation.
“We’ve struck over 5,000 targets to date,” Trump said. He also claimed the Iranian navy had been largely destroyed. “Most of Iran’s naval power has been sunk,” he said.
Trump said US forces were also targeting the country’s drone and missile manufacturing networks.
“Their missile capability is down to about 10 percent, maybe less,” he said.
“Their drone manufacturing has been hit starting today.”
Despite declaring the campaign largely successful, Trump said the United States could expand strikes if necessary.
“We’ve left some of the most important targets for later in case we need to do it,” he said.
“If we hit them, it’s going to take many years for them to be rebuilt.”
Asked what would constitute a final victory, Trump said the goal was to eliminate Iran’s ability to build weapons capable of threatening the United States or its allies.
“When basically I can see that they will no longer have any capacity whatsoever for a very long period of time for developing weaponry that could be used against the United States, Israel, or any of our allies,” he said.
Trump also warned Iran against attempting to disrupt global energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil shipping routes.
“So the Strait of Hormuz is going to remain safe,” he said. “We have a lot of Navy ships there.”
The United States launched major strikes against Iranian targets earlier this month as part of a joint military campaign with Israel aimed at degrading Tehran’s military and nuclear capabilities.
(IANS)
