President Donald Trump said the war with Iran could end “soon” because there is “virtually nothing left” for the US military to bomb.
In an interview with Axios on Wednesday, the US president suggested he could decide to stop fighting at any time.
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“If I want it to end, it will end whenever I want,” Trump reportedly said.
His statement echoed comments by Defense Minister Israel Katz, who suggested there was no end to the timeline for ending the war.
“The operation will continue indefinitely and as long as necessary, until all objectives are achieved and the operation is won,” Katz said, according to the Times of Israel.
In remarks to Axios, President Trump reiterated his view that the war is moving ahead of schedule.
“The war is well underway. It’s way ahead of schedule. Even in the original six weeks, we’ve done more damage than we thought possible,” Trump said.
Although the US president has repeatedly declared that the war will soon end, Washington has not provided a clear timeline for ending the military offensive.
It is also unclear whether Tehran will abide by the ceasefire announced only by the United States.
On Tuesday, news station CNBC asked President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff how the war would end. He said, “I don’t know.”
President Trump told the Times of Israel earlier this week that ending the war would be a “mutual” decision with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, suggesting the United States would not unilaterally withdraw from the operation.
holmuz alert
Trump administration officials have boasted about the war effort, emphasizing daily that Iran has suffered a major blow and its military strength is in retreat.
The United States and Israel have fired thousands of bombs against Iran, killing at least 1,300 people.
Yet the Iranian government continues to fire drones and missiles at Israel, while also targeting U.S. assets across the Middle East and energy and civilian facilities in the Gulf region.
Despite repeated threats from President Trump, Iran has largely cut off commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and cut off the flow of oil from the region.
This turmoil caused oil prices to soar and economic instability to spread around the world.
President Trump warned earlier this week that if Iran continues to blockade ships in Hormuz it will bring “death, fire and fury.”
But on Wednesday, three ships were attacked near the strait.
President Trump’s past statements about opening up Hormuz and ending the war calmed economic markets and depressed oil prices, but only temporarily.
President Trump previously suggested the U.S. Navy might accompany commercial ships through Hormuz, a move Iran’s military said it “welcomed” and indicated it was prepared to attack U.S. forces in the waterway.
On Tuesday, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright wrote on social media platform The White House later acknowledged that this claim was not true.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later accused US officials of “posting fake news to manipulate the market.”
The U.S. military on Wednesday urged Iranians to stay away from ports near the strait.
“Iranian longshoremen, government officials, and merchant marine crews should avoid using Iranian naval vessels and military equipment,” the U.S. military’s Central Command, which focuses on the Middle East, said in a statement.
“The Iranian Navy maintains warships and equipment within civilian ports that serve commercial maritime traffic.”
purpose of war
President Trump initially said his goal was to bring “freedom” to the Iranian people.
But with no signs of Iran’s regime collapsing, U.S. officials made clear another goal of the operation: destroying Iran’s nuclear, missile, and drone programs, as well as the country’s navy.
President Trump’s aides have repeatedly said that only the U.S. president will decide when these goals will be achieved.
Last week, the Iranian Council of Experts selected Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the beginning of a US-Israeli airstrike on February 28.
This decision was seen as a declaration of Iran’s defiance of the United States. President Trump has opposed the selection of the younger Ayatollah Khamenei as leader and has repeatedly insisted that the United States must play a role in shaping Iran’s government.
With the Iranian regime still intact, some critics have questioned what the United States would do if Iran rebuilt its military after the war.
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said after a secret briefing with administration officials on Tuesday that the goal of the war appears to be “to destroy a large number of missile and ship and drone factories.”
“But what puzzled them was the question: what would happen if we stopped bombing and resumed production?” Murphy wrote of the X.
“They hinted at more bombing. Of course, it’s a never-ending war.”
