Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump said American forces could end the ongoing conflict with Iran within two weeks, asserting that Washington had already achieved its core objective of neutralising Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. “I think two or three weeks,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on March 31 when asked about a timeline for ending US operations, adding that the mission was nearing completion.
He claimed the US had significantly degraded Iran’s capabilities through sustained strikes. “We had one goal, they will have no nuclear weapon, and that goal has been attained,” Trump said, adding, “They will not have nuclear weapons.”
Trump also suggested that the situation in Iran had fundamentally changed. “We have had regime change,” he said, noting that the US was now dealing with “people that are much more rational.” He indicated that ongoing military operations were aimed at ensuring long-term disruption of Iran’s capabilities. “We want to knock out every single thing they have,” he said.
At the same time, Trump left open the possibility of a negotiated settlement. “It’s possible that we’ll have a deal because they want to make a deal more than I want to make a deal,” he said. However, he made clear that a deal was not a precondition for US withdrawal. “Iran doesn’t have to make a deal… When we feel that they are, for a long period of time, put into the stone ages… then we’ll leave,” he said.
Trump also suggested that the conflict had already shifted strategic realities on the ground. “We have set them back. It’ll take 15 to 20 years for them to rebuild what we’ve done to them,” he said.
