President Donald Trump said on April 1 (US time) that the “major strategic objectives” of the attacks on Iran, which began on February 28, were coming to an end.
In his first national address since the start of the Iran war with joint US-Israeli strikes, President Trump defended the action, saying he wanted to explain why “Operation Epic Fury” – the US name for Iran’s military campaign – was “essential to the security of America” and the world.
“Tonight, I am pleased to say that these key strategic goals are nearing completion,” Trump said in his anticipated address to the nation.
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In the same 19-minute televised address, while Trump talked about nearly meeting his war goals, he also threatened that Washington would hit Iran “extremely hard” in the next two to three weeks, hitting the country “in the Stone Age.”
“Over the next two to three weeks, we’re going to hit them extremely hard. We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Age where they belong,” Trump said.
The speech comes as the Iran war involving US and Israeli forces enters its second month, with new polls suggesting growing concern among Americans about the long-running hostilities.
Trump has also threatened to attack Iran’s power plants if no deal is reached. “If there’s no deal, we’re going to hit every one of their plants very hard and probably at the same time,” he said.
A day before the speech, Donald Trump said the military could end its offensive against Iran in two to three weeks and shift responsibility for the Strait of Hormuz to countries that rely on it for oil and shipping. Tehran, the US president said, did not have to make a deal as a precondition for ending the war.
Trump’s Shifting Targets
Since the war began on February 28, Donald Trump has offered shifting targets and repeatedly said it could end soon, while threatening to widen the conflict. Thousands more US troops are currently heading to the Middle East, and there is speculation as to why. Trump also threatened to attack Iran’s oil export hub on Kharg Island, news agencies reported.
The speech mostly focused on repeating many of the same points he’s made in recent weeks, offering few new details.
Analysts said the speech failed to answer critical questions, particularly why the US is still going to war if Iran’s nuclear capabilities, navy and missiles have been destroyed, as the president has said.
“I don’t understand why we think we should be safer … and I think the American public has a similar sense of doubt,” Ivo Daalder, a former US ambassador to NATO, told the BBC.
Trump went through a timeline of past U.S. involvement in conflicts, noting that the ongoing war in Iran lasted 32 days by comparison, and appeared to appeal to the public that more time was needed to accomplish the mission.
“In the last four weeks, our armed forces have achieved swift, decisive and overwhelming victories on the battlefield,” Trump said, adding that US military action was “so strong, so brilliant” that “one of the most powerful countries” is no longer “really a threat” — even as Iran continued its attacks on Israel and its Gulf neighbors early Thursday.
In his speech, Trump appeared to indicate he had ruled out going to Iran to obtain enriched uranium, even though he was clear the country could “never have a nuclear weapon.”
“The nuclear sites that we destroyed with B-2 bombers were hit so hard that it would take months to get close to nuclear dust,” Trump said Wednesday. “And we have it under intense satellite surveillance and control. If we see them move, even just because of that, we’ll hit them again very hard with missiles.”
In a social media post Wednesday morning, Donald Trump wrote that “the president of Iran’s new regime” wants a ceasefire. It was not clear who the US president was referring to, as Iran still has the same president. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei called Trump’s claim “false and baseless,” according to a report on Iranian state television.
“More Confusion”: Experts
Hours before Trump’s speech, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted a long letter in English on his X account, appealing to American citizens and stressing that his country had continued negotiations before the U.S. backed out. “Which interests of the American people does this war really serve?” he wrote
Melissa Toufanian, Senior Advisor to the former Secretary of State Antony Blinkentold the BBC she thinks the American public is likely to be “more confused” about the Iran war after Donald Trump’s speech today.
“I don’t think there’s a single American who watched that speech today who felt like there was a clear plan, like there was a clear timeline, that we’re safer and more secure,” she said.
I don’t understand why we think we should be safer… and I think the American public has a similar sense of doubt.
Adding to the confusion is what role Israel – which along with the US has bombed Iran – could play in any of these scenarios. President Trump is under increasing pressure to end the war, which is pushing up the prices of gasoline, food and other goods. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, has risen by more than 40% since the start of the war.
‘Abominable, Terrible, Evil’
Many Democratic lawmakers criticized the speech. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the speech. “Donald Trump’s actions in Iran will be seen as one of the biggest policy mistakes in the history of our country,” Schumer, a Democrat from New York, told the BBC.
Trump is “failing to articulate goals, alienating allies and ignoring the kitchen table issues facing the American people,” he said.
Trump’s threats to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age where it belongs” drew sharp criticism from other lawmakers. “They’re talking about a country of 90 million people,” said Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari, D-Arizona, in a post on X.
Disgusting, scary, evil,” she said.
(With input from agencies)
