US President Donald Trump held a press conference on Monday in which he outlined the progress in the war with Iran, saying, “We are close to finishing".
Trump said the war would be over “soon" but estimated it would not happen this week.
He noted that the US and Israel have sunk 51 Iranian ships so far, adding, “Their missile capability is down to about 10%, maybe less. We know all of the places where they manufacture the drones, and they are being hit one after another."
“We've left some of the most important targets for later. In case we need to do it, if we hit them, it's going to take many years for them to be rebuilt," said Trump, adding, “So, we're not looking to do that if we don't have to. But they're the kind of things that are very easy to hit, but very devastating if they are hit."
“We are waiting to see what happens before we hit them. We could take them all out in one day," he pointed out.
Trump was asked what “winning" looks like and replied, "When, basically, I can see that they will no longer have any capacity whatsoever, for a very long period of time, of developing weaponry that could be used against the United States... or any of our allies."
US President Donald Trump commented on the war with Iran on Monday, vowing not to relent until victory while also saying that the war is “going to be finished pretty quickly".
“Their terrorist leaders are gone, or they’re counting down the minutes until they are gone. Think of it - we had leaders, and now they’re gone. We had new leaders in their place. And now nobody has any idea who the people are who are going to be the head of the country," he said in remarks at the Congressional Institute conference.
“We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated," Trump stated.
“Everybody said the same thing: ‘Make sure you win’. We will. We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough," the President continued.
“We go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long-running danger once and for all," he said.
“Iran was supposed to be this big, powerful country. We wrapped the hell out of them. And you know, I don’t know when they cry ‘uncle,’ but they should have cried it two days ago, right? But they don’t have anything left," Trump stressed.
He also commented on the June strikes on Iran and said, “If we didn’t do that B-2 attack, Israel would have been wiped out."
“Even now, I think they were looking to take over the Middle East," continued Trump, noting that Iran’s missiles “were so stupidly aimed" at regional countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
He further stated that US forces are conducting strikes against drone production facilities.
The comments came hours after Trump said in an interview with CBS News that the war was progressing faster than initial estimates.
“I think the war is very complete, pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force," he said.
He also stated that he has "no message" for Mojtaba Khamenei, who was selected on Sunday to succeed his father as Iran's Supreme Leader.