Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: NEW DELHI: President Donald Trump has said the US military could press its assault on Iran for four to five weeks if needed and suggested that a Venezuela model — removing only the top leader while keeping much of the state intact — could shape a post-conflict transition in Tehran. In a brief telephone interview with The New York Times, Trump outlined his confidence in sustaining the campaign and repeatedly pointed to what he described as a successful precedent in Latin America.
“What we did in Venezuela, I think, is the perfect, the perfect scenario,” Trump said, referring to an outcome in which only the top leader was removed while much of the government remained in place. “Everybody’s kept their job except for two people,” he added.
Asked how long the United States and Israel could maintain the current level of attacks, Trump said: “Well, we intended four to five weeks.” “It won’t be difficult,” he added. “We have tremendous amounts of ammunition. You know, we have ammunition stored all over the world in different countries.”
Speaking roughly 36 hours into the conflict, Trump acknowledged the risk of further American casualties. “Three is three too many as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “If you look at projections, they do projections, it, you know, it could be quite a bit higher than that.”
“We expect casualties,” he added. He also claimed that joint US-Israeli strikes had “knocked out a big portion” of the Iranian navy, including nine ships and the navy headquarters. Yet his description of how power might change hands in Iran shifted during the interview.
