US President Donald Trump said another American military intervention against Iran is “extremely unlikely” if negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz make progress.
During a 20-minute phone call with CNN, Trump repeated five times that he did not think further military action would be necessary.
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“It all depends on whether they sign a very strong agreement,” the US president said, referring to Iran’s leadership.
“It is extremely unlikely that this will be necessary. They are a state in collapse. It was just announced, as you saw, that their inflation this year is 301%. It is extremely unlikely that I will have to attack them. I would do it if it were necessary, but we hit them very hard. I hit them extremely hard,” he said.
Trump stressed that Iran is facing a severe economic and military deterioration. “So, it is very unlikely that I will have to do this. They are suffering economically. We have hit them militarily. We can destroy them,” the US president added.
“I have three aircraft carriers; we’re ready”
After eight months of war, disagreements in negotiations between the United States and Iran remain unresolved. So far, there has been neither significant military activity nor major diplomatic progress, while tankers sailing through the Strait of Hormuz continue to be attacked by Iran.
The United States, Iran and Qatar, the latter acting as a mediator, have not made public any details about the progress of the talks.
Although he has said he is seeking a diplomatic solution, Trump emphasized that US troops in the region are at full operational readiness.
“We’re ready. I have three aircraft carriers there. The other one just arrived. They are fully equipped and ready to attack,” he said.
The US president said the United States had also identified infrastructure targets inside Iranian territory in case further military action is taken. His list includes power plants and bridges.
“We have 38 bridges in our sights that we could literally destroy within an hour. They would all collapse,” Trump said.
However, he clarified that he would prefer not to strike Iran’s infrastructure.
“I don’t want to do that, because basically it would take 10 years to rebuild them. I don’t like bringing down bridges. The hardest thing to build is a bridge. It takes years, and I’m a good builder,” he said.
“Iran has only 10% of its missiles and 15% of its drones left”
Trump also spoke about the current capabilities of Iran’s armed forces, claiming that previous US attacks had significantly weakened Tehran’s military capabilities.
According to the US president, Iran’s air defense systems have been destroyed, leaving the country particularly exposed to a new attack.
“They can’t stop them, because they don’t have air defense systems. Their entire air defense has been destroyed,” he said.
Trump added that Iran has retained only 10% of its previous missile capacity and 15% of its drone capacity.
Finally, the US president returned to the possibility of a new military operation, but insisted that he does not believe such action will be necessary.
