Trump didn’t give a timeline or exact date for wrapping up the conflict, though he earlier said that it could take some two to three weeks longer. “We are going to finish the job, and we’re going to finish it very fast,” he said Wednesday night. “We’re getting very close.”
He peppered his speech with claims of the U.S.’s “decisive, overwhelming victories” in the war, including wiping out Iran’s Navy and Air Force, diminishing Tehran’s missile capabilities, and killing former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other key Islamic Republic officials. “I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” he said. “We’ve beaten and completely decimated Iran. They are decimated, both militarily and economically and in every other way.”
At the same time, Trump seemed to suggest that the war is far from over. “We’re 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 Ages, where they belong.” If no deal is made, he added, referencing ongoing negotiations to end the conflict, “we are going to hit each and every one of their electric-generating plants, very hard and probably simultaneously.” Human rights advocates have decried threats and attacks on Iran’s power infrastructure as it would harm civilians.
Read the full article here
