Trump pushes back on reports that Iran war finished
Donald Trump (photo: Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump said that Iran has suffered a military defeat, while denying that he has ever stated that the fighting has ended.
The US president gave an interview to Full Measure, hosted by Sharyl Attkisson, in which he was asked whether the war with Iran is over, paused, or still ongoing.
"They are militarily defeated. In their own minds, maybe they don't know that. But I think they do, because I deal with them," Trump said.
He again stated that Iran no longer has a navy, air force, air defenses, radar systems, or leadership. According to him, if the United States left today, Iran would need 20 years to recover.
When asked to clarify whether it was accurate to say that combat operations had ended, Trump said he never said that and that the United States still has potential targets.
"No, I didn't say that. I said they are defeated, but that doesn't mean they're done. We could go on for two more weeks and do every single target. We have certain targets that we wanted to, and we've done probably 70% of them. But we have other targets that we could conceivably hit," the US leader said.
Trump also stated that the US Space Forces are monitoring Iranian nuclear facilities and added that at some point, Washington intends to retrieve enriched uranium from Iran.
Key things to know
On May 1, US President Donald Trump informed Congress that the war with Iran was over. Media reports noted that the president was attempting to end disputes over Congress's role in approving the conflict.
In addition, on May 5, Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly told journalists that Operation Epic Fury against Iran had concluded, saying Washington had already finished that phase.
Media also reported that, according to The Wall Street Journal, US and Iranian officials may resume peace talks in Pakistan as early as next week, with the parties expected to agree on a 14-point memorandum.
