Trump says Iran war to end 'very soon' as oil prices soar
He also said the military campaign in Iran would "go further" despite "achieving major strides."
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump sent mixed messages on Monday about the duration of the Iran war, initially claiming it was “pretty well complete” before saying the US military campaign would “go further.”
Asked if the war would be over within a week, Trump told reporters during a press conference in Doral, Florida, “No" but "very soon." He said the United States was "achieving major strides” toward its military objectives in Iran.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday described those objectives as destroying Iran’s navy and eliminating its ability to produce and launch missiles. Trump authorized strikes following repeated warnings that he would take military action if Iran did not rein in its nuclear program.
“Look, everything they had is gone, including their leadership," Trump said. “The missiles are down to a trickle. The drones are down to probably 25%, and they'll soon be down to nothing.”
“We could call it a tremendous success right now,” Trump added, “or we could go further, and we’re going to go further.”
US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said Monday that more than 5,000 targets have been hit in Iran since Feb. 28. Trump told reporters that the United States has "left some of the most important targets for later” that would take longer to rebuild, such as Iran's electricity sector. He added, "we're not looking to do that if we don't have to."
Now in its 10th day, the war has engulfed the region. Iran on Monday continued attacks on neighboring countries, striking the Al-Ma’ameer oil facility in Bahrain and launching a second ballistic missile that was intercepted in Turkish airspace. Hostilities between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel are meanwhile intensifying, displacing nearly 700,000 people throughout Lebanon, according to the United Nations.
Asked why his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently told CBS' "60 Minutes" that the bombing campaign was “just the beginning,” Trump responded that it’s the “beginning of building a new country.”
Trump spoke less than 24 hours after Iran announced Mojtaba Khamenei as the Islamic Republic’s next supreme leader, replacing his father, who died during US-Israeli strikes. The lifetime appointment of 56-year-old Khamenei, a hard-liner who is close to Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, points to a hardening of Iran’s stance toward the West.
“I was disappointed, because we think it's going to lead to just more of the same problem for the country, so I was disappointed to see their choice,” Trump said of Khamenei’s selection.
“We want a system that can lead to many years of peace, and if we can't have that, we might as well get it over with right now," he added.
Iran has responded to the strikes with missile and drone attacks on Israel, US bases in the region and Gulf countries. Seven US servicemembers have died in Iran’s retaliatory strikes in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to the Pentagon.
“When you have conflicts like this, you always have death,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question about US casualties.
Asked about the strike that hit an Iranian girls' school believed to have killed some 175 people last month, Trump said he didn’t “know enough” about it. Video released by Iranian state media shows what appears to be a US-designed Tomahawk cruise missile striking the site. Trump, who previously blamed Iran, said he would accept “whatever” the US investigation into the strike concludes.
Oil prices surged past $100 per barrel on Monday for the first time since July 2022 as the 10-day war continues to roil global markets. The war has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows.
"I will not allow a terrorist regime to hold the world hostage in an attempt to stop the globe's oil supply — and if Iran does anything to do that, they'll get hit at a much, much harder level,” Trump said.
Reuters previously reported that the Trump administration was considering easing oil sanctions on Russia that were imposed over its war in Ukraine. Earlier Monday, Trump held what he described as a “very good call” with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the wars in Ukraine and Iran.
