President Donald Trump said US forces will keep hitting Iran "very hard” in the next two or three weeks and bring the country "back to the Stone Ages,” even as he touted the success of US operations and argued that all of Washington’s objectives have so far been met or exceeded.
Trump said Iran would continue to face a barrage of attacks in the short term.
"We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” Trump said. "We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.”
In an evening speech from the White House, Trump broke little new ground on how the war would end and vowed two to three weeks further of "extremely hard" strikes against Iran.
"We are going to finish the job, and we're going to finish it very fast. We're getting very close," he said in remarks that largely rehashed his daily streams of social-media postings and rapid media interviews.
With his approval rating hitting new lows and Americans feeling a pinch from soaring oil prices, Trump offered a retroactive explanation on why he joined Israel in the attack launched on February 28.
Standing before American flags, Trump delivered the type of speech most presidents would offer at the start of a conflict.
Trump on February 28 instead released a video in which he was wearing a baseball cap and no tie.
In his Wednesday address, Trump said the United States was aiming to crush Iran's military, end the clerical state's support for regional armed groups and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear bomb — a prospect that the UN nuclear watchdog and many observers say was not imminent.
"I'm pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion," Trump said in a 19-minute speech.
Trump didn’t say anything about negotiations with Iran or bring up the April 6 deadline he set for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway for global oil and gas transport. He has threatened to attack Iran's energy infrastructure if the strait was not reopened.
Trump also did not offer a clear path to end the supply disruptions that have sent energy prices soaring.
He did not mention the possibility of sending US ground troops into Iran, or Nato, the trans-Atlantic alliance he has railed against for not helping the US secure the waterway.
Oil rose more than 6% and Asian stocks fell after the comments. Oil prices were sharply higher following Trump’s remarks. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 4.9% to $106.16 per barrel. Benchmark US crude rose 4% to $104.15 a barrel.
US gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 on Tuesday, as the Iran war continues to push fuel prices higher worldwide. Analysts say those high fuel costs will trickle into groceries as businesses’ transportation and packaging costs pile up.
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A spokesman for Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday dismissed a speech by President Donald Trump as "insane.”
Elias Hazrati made the comment on Iranian state television, insisting Trump’s remarks "boosted our nation’s integrity.”
"Trump is tangled with insane remarks,” he said. "Today, Iran is managing the Strait of Hormuz powerfully.”
A spokesman for Iran’s military, reacting to Trump’s speech, insisted on Thursday that Tehran maintains hidden stockpiles of arms and munitions.
Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesman for the Iranian military’s Khatam Al Anbiya Central Headquarters, made the comment.
"The centers you think you have targeted are insignificant, and our strategic military productions take place in locations of which you have no knowledge and will never reach,” he claimed.
Israel and the United States have hit thousands of targets in the weekslong war, targeting military bases, missile launchers and other sites.
Iranian missile fire has dropped, though Tehran is still able to mount attacks.
AP / AFP
