The United States is very close to achieving its military objectives in Iran even as discussions remain ongoing with Tehran, US President Donald Trump said in an address to Americans. Trump's address, coming just over a month after US and Israel launched a bombing campaign in Iran, repeated most of the President’s previous assertions about the war in the Gulf without offering a concrete picture of what may happen next.
In his address, Trump suggested that more military escalation was in store, saying that the US would take Iran back to the Stone Age, while leaving room open for diplomacy by adding that his staff was in touch with unnamed Iranian officials.
"From the beginning of Operation Epic Fury, we have said that we will continue until our objectives are fully achieved. Thanks to the progress we have made, I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America's military objectives shortly, very shortly," the US President said.
"We are going to finish the job, and we’re going to finish it very fast," he added.
The US President outlined four key objectives driving the US military campaign: destroying Iran's offensive missile capabilities, dismantling its missile production systems, neutralising its navy and broader security infrastructure, and ensuring that Iran never acquires nuclear weapons.
In his nationally televised address, Trump also warned that Washington would strike Iran "extremely hard" over the next two to three weeks and take the country back to the "Stone Ages".
"We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong," he said.
Furthermore, Trump claimed Iran's military capabilities have been significantly degraded, saying its navy is 'gone' and its air force "lies in ruins". He added that most of Iran's leadership has been eliminated.
"Iran's navy is gone, their air force is in ruins, their leaders, most of them, are now dead. Their command and control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is being decimated as we speak, their ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed, and their weapons, factories, and rocket launchers are being blown to pieces," the President said.
Drawing comparisons with past US military engagements, Trump noted that while previous wars lasted years or even decades, the present operation in Iran has been underway for just over a month.
"American involvement in World War 1 lasted one year, seven months and five days. World War 2 lasted for three years, eight months and 25 days. The Korean War lasted for three years, one month, and two days. The Vietnam War lasted for 19 years, five months, and 29 days. Iraq went on for eight years, eight months, and 28 days. We are in this military operation for 32 days. And the country has been eviscerated and essentially is really no longer a threat," he said.
Trump also asserted that the US military action in Iran is not to get any of the country's vast resources, including oil, but instead to help America's allies.
"We are now totally independent of the Middle East, and yet we are there to help. We don't have to be there. We don't need their oil. We don't need anything they have. We are there to help our allies," he said.
Trump also sought to calm concerns over rising fuel prices triggered by the Strait of Hormuz blockade, saying the US has ample oil and gas reserves of its own. Highlighting his "drill baby, drill" attitude to domestic oil production, he claimed the "United States now produces more oil and gas than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined".
Trump also thanked US allies in the Middle East, including Israel and the Gulf nations, and vowed to protect them against any threat from Iran or other countries. "I wanna thank our allies in the Middle East, Israel, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE. They have been great, and we will not let them get hurt or fail in any way, shape or form," he said.
Today's speech marked Trump's first prime-time address on the Middle East crisis since US-Israeli strikes in Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior figures.
