US President Donald Trump has indicated that the ongoing conflict with Iran, being carried out in coordination with Israel, could continue for up to four weeks. He said the operation, referred to by the US as Operation Epic Fury, is unfolding according to plan and claimed that American strikes have likely eliminated 48 senior Iranian leaders.
“It’s always been a four-week processโฆ It’s a big country. It’ll take four weeks โ or less,” Trump said in an interview with British newspaper The Daily Mail.
The remarks came as fighting intensified following coordinated United States Armed Forces and Israel strikes on Iranian targets, which Iranian state media say killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s Supreme Leader, and other senior figures. The attacks triggered retaliatory missile and drone strikes by Iran on military bases and assets linked to the US and Israel, widening the confrontation across the Middle East and prompting global concern over further escalation.
Trump vows to ‘avenge’ deaths of US service members
Speaking in a video message, Trump said the US would “avenge” the deaths of the service members and that “there will likely be more” killed before the conflict ends.
The President made the comments in a roughly six-minute video he posted on social media Sunday afternoon. He called the three service members “true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives.”
He added, “Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That’s the way it is. Likely be more.”
Trump called the operation in Iran “one of the most complex, most overwhelming military offensives the world has ever seen.” “Combat operations continue at this time in full-force and they will continue until all of our objectives are achieved. We have very strong objectives,” Trump said.
Trump reiterates his willingness to speak with whoever is left of Iran’s leaders, but says he is not sure when that will take place.ย
The President said he is getting ready to give another address to the nation on the ongoing Iran strikes. Trump said he is hopeful that democracy will spread in Iran, “But a lot of things could happen and a lot of very positive things could happen.”
Iran-US-Israel conflict
The US and Israel pounded targets across Iran on Sunday, dropping massive bombs on the country’s ballistic missile sites and wiping out warships as part of an intensifying military campaign following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Blasts rattled windows across the country and sent plumes of smoke high into the sky above the capital city of Tehran. More than 200 people have been killed since the start of the strikes that killed Khamenei and other senior leaders, Iranian leaders have said.
Iran vowed revenge, firing missiles at Israel and Gulf Arab states in a counteroffensive that the US military said resulted in the deaths of three service members – the first known American casualties from the conflict. Israel’s rescue services said nine people were killed and 28 wounded in a strike that hit a synagogue in the central town of Beit Shemesh, bringing the overall death toll in the country to 11. Eleven people were still missing after the strike, police said.
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