NEW DELHI, Mar 11: The US President Donald Trump on Wednesday once again claimed that the war with Iran would end any time he wanted and added that it would actually end “soon.”
In an interview, Mr Trump said there was “practically nothing left to target.” Amid the escalating tensions in the Middle East region, Trump said, “Little this and that…Any time I want it to end, it will end.”
It was exactly the opposite of what Israeli defence minister Israel Katz had said on Wednesday morning. Even as Trump hinted that the objectives of his operation have been largely achieved in Iran, strikes and attacks have not come to a halt in the Middle East and Mr Katz said the joint striking campaign with the US would go on “as long as necessary.”
“This operation will continue without any time limit, as long as necessary, until we achieve all the objectives and decide the outcome of the campaign,” he said. Katz stated that strikes in Tehran and across the country would continue “day after day, target after target.” He added that the attacks would continue to allow Iranians to rise up, act and remove the Khamenei-led regime. “Ultimately, that is something that depends on them,” Katz said.
Trump’s claim that the war would end came just a day after he told the media that the war was “very complete.” He claimed that Iran had no navy, no communications and no air force. “Their missiles are down to a scatter. Their drones are being blown up all over the place, including their manufacturing of drones,” Trump added. He also said Tehran had nothing left in a “military sense.”
The US President further warned Iran not to “try anything cute.” “They’ve shot everything they have to shoot, and they better not try anything cute or it’s going to be the end of that country…If they do anything bad, that would be the end of Iran and you’d never hear the name again,” Trump was quoted as saying.
On Tuesday, Trump also warned Iran of fresh military consequences over reports of mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s biggest oil chokepoint. In a post on Truth Social, the US President warned of military action at a “level never seen before.” “If Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY! If for any reason mines were placed, and they are not removed forthwith, the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before,” he wrote in his post.
(Manas Dasgupta)