President Donald Trump promised a swift end to his war in Iran during a Wednesday-night speech that didn’t detail what military objectives his administration is pursuing nor what it wants from the Iranian government.
Speaking during the fifth week of Operation Epic Fury, Trump made no mention of thousands of soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division who arrived in the Middle East in recent days, nor of reports that the Pentagon had put together plans for a ground operation to seize Iran’s highly enriched uranium.
“Thanks to the progress we’ve made, I can say tonight, we are on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly, very shortly,” the president said. “We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We’re going to bring them back to the stone ages, where they belong. In the meantime, discussions are ongoing.”
Trump did not detail which military objectives are still left to achieve, though Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said during briefings over the past month that those had included destroying Iran’s ability to produce and deploy ballistic missiles and drones to target U.S. interests.
“The country has been eviscerated,” Trump said, adding that Iran “is really no longer a threat.”
One day earlier, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that B-52 bombers had entered the fray, continuing air strikes that have hit more than 12,000 targets thus far.
Three weeks ago, when only 6,000 targets had been struck, Trump told Axios there was “practically nothing left” to target in Iran.
On Wednesday, Trump did not say what he wants from Iran to end the war, though he mentioned he could still “hit” their oil.
He characterized Iran’s new leadership as “less radical,” though newly ascended Ayatollah Mojtaba Khameinei, son of assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khameinei, has been described as even more extreme than his father.
Trump also called on other countries to “go to the Strait” of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively shut down by firing on commercial vessels, and “just take it… It will open up naturally.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Wednesday that the United Kingdom would convene a meeting of 35 countries, not including the U.S., to discuss possibilities for reopening the strait.
