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President Donald Trump defended the joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran, saying the country’s nuclear program posed a growing threat to the United States.
Speaking to the media in the East Room of the White House, Trump said, “This was our last best chance to strike and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime.”
It marked the first time the president delivered in-person and live remarks to reporters since the operation began early Saturday.
Trump said “everyone was behind us” in the attack on Iran.
Trump outlined four objectives for the U.S. war in Iran: destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, wiping out its naval capacity, preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ensuring that the Iranian regime cannot continue to arm, fund and direct armies outside its borders.
“The objectives are clear,” Trump said.
He said the first goal is to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities.
“Second, we’re annihilating their navy; we’ve already knocked out 10 ships. They’re at the bottom of the sea. Third, we’re ensuring that the world’s number one sponsor of terror can never obtain a nuclear weapon,” he said.
Trump added that U.S. attacks have already “knocked out” 10 ships and that strikes on Iran’s missile sites are ensuring they are destroyed while stopping “their capacity to produce brand ones.”
Trump said Iran ignored White House warnings not to rebuild its nuclear program after what he described as the “obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear program and Operation Midnight Hammer.
“Following our obliteration of Iran’s nuclear program and Operation Midnight Hammer a short while ago, we warned Iran not to make any attempt to rebuild at a different location, because they were unable to use the ones we so powerfully blew up, but they ignored those warnings and refused to cease their pursuit of nuclear weapons,” he said.
Trump was referring to U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites in June, which the White House claimed “totally” obliterated Tehran’s nuclear program.
“The regime already had missiles capable of hitting Europe and our bases, both local and overseas, and would soon have had missiles capable of reaching our beautiful America,” he said.
Trump also blamed the administration of Barrack Obama for allowing Iran to develop its nuclear program.
“They were on the road to getting one legitimately through deal signed foolishly by our country,” he said.
“We thought we had a deal and then they backed out. Then they came back, we thought we had a deal and they backed out. I said, ‘you can’t deal with these people’.”
Addressing the timeline of the military campaign, Trump said operations could last four to five weeks but that the U.S. was prepared to go longer if needed.
“We’re already substantially ahead of our time projections,” he said. “But whatever the time is, it’s okay. Whatever it takes, we will always, and we have, right from the beginning, we projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that. We’ll do it.”
Trump said someone thought he would get bored of the operation, but added, “I don’t get bored.”
“There’s nothing boring about this,” he said.
In an interview with the Daily Mail on Sunday, Trump had said the military campaign against Iran could last up to four or five weeks, and that the U.S. was prepared to continue longer if necessary.
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