US President Donald Trump said Monday that he expects the war with Iran to conclude “very soon," reiterating his confidence that the United States will prevail.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said, "We're going to win, as far as I'm concerned, it's going to be one way or the other," adding, "It's going to go pretty quickly." He also predicted that gas prices would “come tumbling down" following an American victory.
Trump defended his decision to go to war with Iran by warning of the consequences he said could have followed if Tehran had been allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon.
"If you want to see turmoil, let them take out a city with a nuclear weapon. I’m not only talking about Israel and big parts of the Middle East. Let them hit us with a nuclear weapon, for all those stupid people that think it’s okay," said Trump.
Turning to Iran’s leadership, Trump said, "They are crazy. There’s no question about it. They are very crazy people. I tell them all the time. I say, 'You are crazy, man.' But they cannot have a nuclear weapon."
Trump said preventing Iran from obtaining such a weapon was the reason he entered the conflict.
"I went to war to stop what could be one of the worst things that could ever happen to the world - to us, but to the world," Trump continued. "Israel would be wiped out right now. There would be no Israel, there'd be no Middle East, and then the rockets and the bombs would start coming our way and Europe's way. And I stopped it."
The President made similar comments in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, saying that he expects the United States to prevail in the war against Iran in the near future, while stressing that preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon remains central to the conflict.
“I think what’s going to happen is we’re going to win this war very soon," he said, adding that stopping Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon was “key to the whole thing."
“We’ve already won it really from a military standpoint," the President added, while noting that the campaign had not necessarily ended.
Trump also declined to rule out renewed US strikes against Iran before the midterm elections. “I don’t want to say that. I don’t want to say that. I mean, it’s possible, but I just don’t want to say that," he said.
Last week, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner communicated with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi through Qatari intermediaries on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Iran presented a proposal during those discussions that called for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and resuming nuclear negotiations within a week, in exchange for Washington ending its naval blockade, lifting restrictions on Iranian oil exports and restoring a regional ceasefire. Trump rejected the proposal Saturday.