US President Donald Trump vowed to achieve "ultimate victory" against Iran. He said US strikes have destroyed 80% of Iran's missile sites and their Navy, and that the operation with Israel will make the world safer and end "pretty quickly."
US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) said that they have won against Iran in many ways but have not won enough, vowing to achieve "ultimate victory" against the Persian Gulf country. Speaking at the Republican Members' Issues Conference, Trump said, "We have won in many ways but haven't won enough. We go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long-running danger once and for all." He also said that the world is going to be a much safer place once the operation is finished and that "it's going to get finished pretty quickly".
Trump on US Military Action
On the US strikes in Iran, Trump said, "If we didn't go in, they would have come in after us...Within a week, they were going to attack us 100 per cent. They were ready. They had all these missiles far more than anyone thought and they were going to attack us. They were going to attack all of the Middle East and Israel. If they had a nuclear weapon, they would have used it on Israel. This was going to be a major attack. They had all of those missile sites and all those launchers that we got rid of about 80 per cent of them right now...They have very few launchers left. What our military has done is amazing..."
Targeting Drone Manufacturing
He mentioned that the sites where drones are manufactured were targeted and further added, "The drones have been knocked out and we're hitting where they make the drones... Lot of work, lot of brilliant work but we're going to have a much safer world as soon as its finished and it's going to get finished pretty quickly."
Joint Operations with Israel
Trump further mentioned that together with Israeli partners, Iran is being "crushed" in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force. "Iran's drone and missile capability is being utterly demolished. The Navy is gone. It's all lying at the bottom of the ocean. 46 ships, can you believe it? In fact I got a little upset with our people. When I said 'what quality of ship?' they said 'excellent, sir. Top of the line'. I said 'Why didn't we just capture the ships? We could use it. Why did we sink them?' They said it is more fun to sink them. They like them sinking better. They say it is safer to sink them, I guess it's probably true," he said.
Background of Escalation
His remarks come amid heightened tensions in West Asia as military operations and retaliatory actions involving Iran, the United States and Israel continue to escalate across the region, following the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader, 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in joint military strikes by the US and Israel on February 28. The strikes also killed several senior leaders of the Islamic Republic. In retaliation, Tehran launched counter-strikes targeting American military bases in multiple Arab countries and Israeli assets across the region.
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