US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the war against Iran could conclude “pretty soon," while suggesting Washington would decide whether to pursue a diplomatic outcome or take a harsher approach.
“We're doing extremely well in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Very well. The whole place is shot. They were the bully of the Middle East. They're not so much the bully anymore. But we have to finish up, and it's only a question of which way we want to do it: the nice way or the not-so-nice way. And pretty soon you'll find out," Trump said at an event in Baltimore, Maryland.
The president has repeatedly forecast a swift end to the conflict without specifying when or how it would conclude. On Monday, he said the United States was defeating Iran and predicted the war “will end very quickly" during a rally in Nebraska ahead of November's midterm elections.
“We're saving the world from what could be one of the worst tragedies ever. They won't have - that's decided - they will not have a nuclear weapon. They understand that," he said. Trump also predicted a sharp decline in prices once the conflict ends, adding, “The war will end very quickly, and prices are going to come down very sharply. You might say, 'Please, please, sir, it's going down too fast!' You watch what's going to happen in a very short period of time," he added.
Last week, Trump described Iran as “ready to fold up" and suggested the war could be won shortly after the midterm elections, or potentially before they take place.
Speaking at an event in Texas, he said, “We have a war going on with a country that will never have a nuclear weapon and is ready to fold up. We'll win very easily right now. I believe right after the election we'll win, but maybe before the election."
Trump has also maintained that Iran was “three to four weeks away, maybe sooner" from obtaining a nuclear weapon when the war began in late February. “And if they have a nuclear weapon, the whole game is over.." he said. He warned that the conflict would end “one way or the other...either they'll do something very proper and smart or they won't be around very long, which is, you know, frankly, I hate to see that, but they won't be around very long."
Iranian security official Mohsen Rezaei responded on social media by calling Trump “the worst president in American history" and accusing him of making claims detached from reality.
“You can win every day in your own imagination. But reality is shaped by Iran - by its people, its soldiers, and its missiles," Rezaei wrote.
The exchange came as Iran announced that it had received a new American response regarding efforts to restore a ceasefire in the Gulf. Trump said last week that he had rejected an Iranian proposal.