In his first national address since the war on Iran began more than a month ago, Donald Trump provided little information about next steps and gave no definitive end date for the conflict.
The US President said that he wanted to “discuss why Operation Epic Fury is necessary for the safety of America and the security of the free world.” However, he spent much of an address that lasted just under 20 minutes repeating many things he had already said in recent weeks and did not offer any new explanations.
He maintained that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, calling such a prospect “an intolerable threat,” and said that the country was building a vast arsenal of ballistic missiles that were a threat to America’s homeland.
While he said Iran’s ballistic missile capacity was greatly reduced, he didn’t explain how the operation had curtailed Iran’s nuclear ambitions. He and his administration had previously insisted that the US and Israel “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program in strikes last summer.
Thousands of additional US troops are heading to the Middle East. Gulf allies are urging Trump to finish the fight, arguing that Tehran hasn’t been weakened enough.
Days ago, Trump predicted that the US will be done “within maybe two weeks” but in his address he said that the US would hit Iran “extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.”
Trump said that US forces will “finish the job” in Iran soon as “core strategic objectives are nearing completion.”
“America, as it has been for five years under my presidency, is winning — and now winning bigger than ever before. We’re going to finish the job and were going to finish it very fast.
Donald Trump
He argued that all of Washington’s objectives have so far been met or exceeded, but said that Iran would continue to face a barrage of attacks in the short term. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong,” he said.
He also acknowledged American service members who had been killed and added, “We’re getting very close.”
Trump ticked through a timeline of past American involvement in conflicts and noted that the ongoing war in Iran had lasted just 32 days. “World War I lasted one year, seven months and five days,” he said, adding, “World War II lasted for three years, eight months and 25 days.”
Trump, who was referring to the time the US was involved in those wars, also added references to Korea, Vietnam and Iraq.
He also noted that in “these past four weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield.” He said that US military action had been “so powerful, so brilliant” that “one of the most powerful countries” is “really no longer a threat.”
Trump launched the war without Congressional approval and is fast approaching the 60-day mark when he must seek approval from Congress under the War Powers Act to continue any military operations.
Also in his address, the US President didn’t mention the possibility of sending US ground troops into Iran.
Trump seemed to suggest that he had ruled out going into Iran to get its enriched uranium.
“The nuclear sites that we obliterated with the B-2 bombers have been hit so hard that it would take months to get near the nuclear dust And we have it under intense satellite surveillance and control. If we see them make a move, even a move for it, we’ll hit them with missiles very hard again.”
Donald Trump
Iran long has insisted its nuclear program was peaceful. It had, however, been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels.
Before the war, US intelligence agencies assessed that Iran had yet to begin a weapons program, but had “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.”
Trump Makes No Mention Of NATO
Moreover, Trump did not reference NATO, the trans-Atlantic alliance he has criticised for not helping the US secure the critical Strait of Hormuz, where a chokehold by Iran has sent energy prices soaring.
Despite having started the week with a torrent of abuse directed at NATO allies and other US partners for not participating in the conflict, which included several direct threats to withdraw from NATO, Trump was unusually restrained in his comments.
He also didn’t say anything about negotiations with Iran or bring up his April 6 deadline for Iran to reopen the waterway or face severe retaliation from the US.
The US President encouraged countries reliant on oil through the Strait of Hormuz to “build some delayed courage” and go “take it.”
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