US President Donald Trump delivered his first major national address since the conflict with Iran began on February 28, asserting that American forces had delivered a “decisive” blow to Tehran’s military capabilities. He declared that the United States would “finish the job” soon emphasising that core objectives were close to being achieved. According to him, the campaign is aimed at dismantling Iran’s missile infrastructure and Navy, weakening its regional proxies and ensuring it does not acquire a nuclear weapon.
‘US is not seeking Iran’s resources’
Reiterating that the offensive was not motivated by Iran’s oil wealth or natural resources, Trump maintained that the operation is driven by the need to protect partners in the region. “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,” he added. Trump added that the deployment is primarily to support America’s allies.
The President also attempted to reassure citizens about rising global fuel prices triggered by the disruption at the Strait of Hormuz. Emphasising domestic energy abundance, he credited his “drill baby, drill” approach for strengthening American energy reserves and claimed that the country now produces more oil and gas than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined.
Trump on Iran’s military
Speaking from the historic Cross Hall at the White House, Trump said that ‘Operation Epic Fury’ had significantly degraded Iran’s weapons capabilities. According to him, the country’s capacity to deploy missiles and drones had been “dramatically curtailed” and its weapons plants and launch systems were suffering major destruction. He repeated his assertion that “Iran has been essentially decimated”, though independent assessments do not substantiate this claim, The Associated Press (AP) reported. Trump once again claimed “Iran has been essentially decimated” and that efforts by other nations to secure the Strait of Hormuz “should be easy”. Hwever, data from independent observers does not support this claim.
Here are the top 10 points from Trump’s address:ย
- “Iran’s maritime and aerial capabilities have been systematically dismantled. It’s navy is gone, air force is in ruins, its leaders, most of them terrorists, are now dead. Regime change has occurred, and all their old leaders are gone. The new group is less radical.”ย
- “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, with very few left. Never in the history of warfare has an enemy suffered such clear and devastating large-scale losses in a matter of weeks. The United States is winning bigger than ever before.”
- “The US mission is designed to crush Iran’s ability to support terrorist proxies and deny them the ability to build a nuclear bomb. Our armed forces have been extraordinary. I am pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion.”
- “We will continue till our objectives are achieved. We are going to hit them (Iran) hard over the next two-three weeks, we will take them to the Stone Age.”ย
- “We have our eyes on key targets. If there is no deal, we will hit their electric plants. We have so far not hit their oil, but we could do that and they can’t do anything; we are unstoppable.”ย
- “Many Americans have been concerned to see the recent rise in gasoline prices here at home. This short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers and neighbouring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict. This is yet more proof that Iran can never be trusted with nuclear weapons. They will use them, and they will use them quickly. It would lead to decades of extortion, economic pain, and instability worse than we can ever imagine.”ย
- “There is no country like us anywhere in the world, and we are in great shape for the future. The United States imports almost no oil through the Hormuz Strait, and won’t be taking any in the future. And the countries of the world that do receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage.”
- “Very importantly, I terminated Barack Obamaโs Iran nuclear deal, which I considered a disaster. They continued pursuing nuclear weapons. That deal would have led to a massive nuclear arsenal for Iran, and the world would be very different today. There would have been no Middle East and no Israel right now, in my opinion, had I not ended it.”
- “Stock prices will rapidly go back up. They haven’t come down very much, frankly. They came down a little bit but they have had some very good days over the last couple of days. We have done, actually, much better than I thought, but we had to take that little journey.”
- “Our economy is strong and improving by the day, and it will soon be roaring back like never before. It will top the levels that it was a month ago.”
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