Washington: US President Donald Trump has said the war with Iran could end “fairly soon”, while asserting that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei was seriously wounded but remained alive.
“I don’t think he’s dead. He was very seriously wounded,” Trump said in an interview with conservative broadcaster Glenn Beck.
“The left side of his body, the arm, the leg, the whole thing, he was very seriously wounded. But I don’t think he’s dead,” he said.
Trump offered no evidence about Khamenei’s condition. He said Iranian officials continued to speak about consulting the supreme leader.
“And if he is, they’re putting on a pretty good show because they talk about, you know, going back to talk to him all the time, you know, to get a final blessing on things,” Trump said.
The President also claimed that US forces had destroyed 22 boats overnight as part of operations connected to the blockade.
“And, you know, we have this great open; we took out 22 boats last night. We have people coming in the blockade. Our Navy has been unbelievable. Our military has been unbelievable, the combination,” he said.
Trump predicted that the campaign would soon produce what he described as a major victory.
“We had the victory in Venezuela, and we’re going to have a big victory here very soon,” he said.
Asked why Iranians had not risen against the government, Trump said protesters faced armed security forces and snipers.
“And it’s very hard to protest when you have people that are willing to shoot you and kill you. And that’s why they’re not protesting,” he said.
Trump argued that Iran had been severely weakened. He said its navy and air force had been destroyed, some soldiers were not being paid and inflation had surged.
“There is a chance, because they have become very much weakened,” he said. “You know, their Navy is, as you know, totally gone. Their air force is totally gone.”
Trump also said the Strait of Hormuz was functioning and large quantities of oil were moving through the strategic waterway despite occasional attacks.
“The mines are gone. You probably saw that; we put it out yesterday, all the mines. We got rid of the mines. But the strait, it’s functioning; it’s a functioning strait,” he said.
“A lot of oil is pouring out, 10 million gallons — 10 million barrels yesterday,” he added.
Trump said preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon remained the central objective of the conflict.
“We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about. It’s 99.9 per cent. We cannot let them, because they are crazy and they will use it and we cannot let them have a nuclear weapon.”
The President linked the military campaign to energy prices, acknowledging that the conflict had forced his administration to take what he called a “detour”. He nevertheless predicted both the fighting and the resulting price pressures would ease.
“And we did, and the prices are coming down very rapidly,” Trump said. Earlier, he said US action against Iran “will be ending fairly soon”.
Trump also defended his decision during his first term to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
(IANS)
