Trump says U.S. objectives in Iran are nearing completion
President Trump said that U.S. military objectives in Iran are nearing completion, but warned that Iran will be hit “extremely hard” over the next two to three weeks. He also said countries that rely on oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz should take the lead in securing the waterway.
In an address to the nation on Wednesday evening, Trump said it had been one month since the U.S. military began Operation Epic Fury against Iran and claimed American forces had devastated the country’s military capabilities.
He said Iran’s navy was “gone,” its air force was “in ruins,” and the command structure of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was being decimated.
“As I stated in my announcement of Operation Epic Fury, our objectives are very simple and clear,” Trump said. “We are systematically dismantling the regime’s ability to threaten America or project power outside of their borders.”
Trump said the operation was launched to stop Iran from threatening the United States, its allies and international shipping, and to keep Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He said his preferred path had been diplomacy, but that Iran had continued pursuing nuclear weapons and rejected efforts to reach an agreement.
Trump said Iran tried to rebuild its nuclear program at a different location after the U.S. strikes in June, which he said made clear the regime had no intention of giving up its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
“I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” Trump said. “We are going to finish the job. And we’re going to finish it very fast.”
“Very shortly, we are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” he said. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Age where they belong.”
He said discussions were continuing and said regime change had not been the goal of the operation, though he added that “regime change has occurred” because many of Iran’s original leaders were dead and had been replaced by what he described as a less radical group.
He also threatened further strikes if talks fail, saying the United States was prepared to hit Iran’s electric generating plants and warning that its oil sector could also be destroyed.
Trump also addressed concerns over rising gasoline prices, blaming the increase on what he called Iranian attacks on commercial oil tankers and neighboring countries. He said the United States imports almost no oil through the Strait of Hormuz and does not need crude from the region.
“And the countries of the world that do receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage,” Trump said. “They must take it and cherish it. They can do it easily. We will be helpful, but they should take the lead in protecting the oil that they so desperately depend on.”
Brent crude oil jumped about $7 after Trump finished speaking, rising to about $106 a barrel.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
