Trump acknowledges American losses, signals halting strikes on Iran

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"We expect casualties with something like this. We have three, but we expect casualties, but in the end it's going to be a great deal for the world," Trump said.

Earlier, US Central Command officially confirmed that three American service members were killed and five others were wounded.

"There are many outcomes that are good. Number one is decapitating them, getting rid of their whole group of killers and thugs. And there are many, many outcomes. We could do the short version or the longer version," Trump responded when asked about his expected outcome for the US operation in Iran.

The US president also reiterated that Iranian officials want to resume dialogue with the US, but he did not specify which figures are in contact with Washington.

When asked whether the United States would pause strikes amid negotiations, he gave no definitive answer but indicated the possibility would be considered.

"I don't know... if they can satisfy us, but they haven't been able to," Trump said.

The president added that the reason the operation began was "very simple."

"They weren't willing to stop their nuclear research. They weren't willing to say they will not have a nuclear weapon," he said, referring to Iran's refusal to take such a stance during pre-strike negotiations.

Middle East conflict

On February 28, Israel and the United States jointly launched strikes on Iran to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions and destroy its missile arsenal.

During these operations, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was eliminated. According to Trump's statements, the attacks resulted in the deaths of 48 Iranian officials.

Also, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) recently reported that the entire top leadership of Iran was eliminated during the operation.