US President Donald Trump on Monday pushed the idea of ending the Iran war soon, but remained vague on a timeline for ending the attacks that have rocked the Middle East and rattled the global economy.
Markets jumped when Trump suggested to CBS News that the attack between the United States and Israel was “very comprehensive,” but during a subsequent speech and news conference he offered changing narratives about what to expect.
“I think soon. Very soon,” Trump told reporters at his Doral National golf club near Miami, Florida, when asked if he thought the war could end in days or weeks.
“Everything they had is gone, including their leadership.”
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But Trump also pushed for what he called a “definitive victory” against Tehran’s clerical establishment, which over the weekend elected the son of slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei as its new boss.
Trump said the United States was saving some of the “most important” targets in Iran for possible later attacks if necessary, including the country’s power grid.
The US leader also threatened an attack of “incalculable” size if Tehran blocks oil supplies coming through the Strait of Hormuz, as crude prices rise due to the war in the Middle East.
“And if Iran does anything to achieve that, they will be hit much, much harder,” Trump said at the news conference.
“We will hit them so hard that neither they nor anyone who helps them will be able to take back that section of the world, if they do anything at all.”
At the same time, Trump downplayed the magnitude of the conflict, which has not been approved by the US Congress, repeatedly calling it an “excursion” and not a war.
Republican Trump has faced criticism for conflicting messages coming from his administration on the goals of the Iran war, particularly on whether or not he seeks large-scale regime change.
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He declined to say whether new leader Mojtaba Khamenei had a target on his back, saying only that his appointment was “not good.”
But the US president, who has said he should be involved in electing Iran’s new leader in the same way he did with Venezuela in January, said he preferred an “internal” candidate to an external one.
Trump added that he had a “positive phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the Ukraine and Iran wars.”
“He wants to help” in the Middle East, Trump said of Putin, who backs Iran and invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Earlier, Trump’s comments to broadcaster CBS that the United States was well ahead of its initial timeline of about a month had sparked optimism in stock and oil markets.
“I think the war is pretty much complete. They have no navy, no communications, no air force,” Trump told CBS News by phone.
“Their missiles are scattered. Their drones are being exploited everywhere, including their manufacturing,” he added. “If you look, they have nothing left. They have nothing left in the military sense.”
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Trump told the US broadcaster that the United States was “very far away” from its initially declared war time frame of four or five weeks.
The American leader has made similar assessments in recent days about the damage caused by the American-Israeli attacks that began on February 28, but had not gone as far as saying the war was coming to an end.
Last Friday, Trump issued a statement that Iran’s “unconditional surrender” was the only acceptable outcome to end the war.
And his comments came about an hour after the Pentagon posted on social media that the United States had “barely begun to fight.”
However, in his speech to Republican leaders in Doral shortly after the CBS interview, Trump again seemed to hint that more conflict was coming.
“We’ve already won in many ways, but not enough,” Trump said.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
