Trump says Iran war could last ‘4 weeks’ but US ready to talk

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the conflict between the United States and Iran could run for several weeks. “It’s always been a four-week process,” Trump told the Daily Mail, adding: “We figured it will be four weeks or so.”

Trump said the scope of the operation reflected Iran’s size, saying, “As strong as it is, it’s a big country — it’ll take four weeks, or less.” 

Earlier in the day, the US president told The Atlantic Magazine that he plans to talk with Iran’s remaining leaders. 

“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” Trump said. “They should have done it sooner. They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long,” he added.

Iran has not confirmed any plans to reenter negotiations with the US.

The statements followed confirmation from US Central Command that three US soldiers were killed and five others were “seriously wounded” in the war. CENTCOM did not specify where the attacks occurred. 

Iran, meanwhile, vowed revenge Sunday for the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US and Israeli strikes on the capital, Tehran, a day earlier.

Iranian cleric Alireza Arafi has been appointed to Iran’s three-person interim leadership council, the state-run ISNA news agency reported, which also includes President Masoud Pezeshkian and Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said early Sunday that it had launched “extensive missile and drone” attacks targeting 27 US bases in the region, as well as Israel. At least nine people were killed in an Iranian strike on central Israel on Sunday.

Iran has continued to target Gulf states. In Oman, two drones struck the commercial port of Duqm, injuring one foreign worker, while an Omani oil tanker off Musandam was attacked, wounding four crew members, according to state media and the Maritime Security Center.