Following four days of military strikes by the U.S. and Israel, President Donald Trump declared that Iran’s military capabilities have been “knocked out.”
“Their navy is gone; it’s been knocked out. They lack an air force, as that has been knocked out too. Their air detection capabilities are gone, knocked out,” he asserted. “Their radar is knocked out. Essentially, everything has been knocked out.”
During a Tuesday press conference in the Oval Office alongside visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the U.S. President provided this assessment of the conflict, characterizing the progress as “coming along very well.”
“They possess no air defense remaining. They have zero detection facilities left, which means they are going to face a great deal of pain,” he added.
While praising the military operation, Trump indicated that certain members of the remaining Iranian leadership are interested in surrendering.
“Many individuals are stepping forward. Surprisingly, many people you wouldn’t expect want to quit. They are requesting immunity, and at some point, they will likely be dropping, so to speak, and laying down their arms. We shall see what unfolds,” he stated.
There has been no public signal from Iran that it is prepared to surrender; instead, the nation has persisted in launching retaliatory attacks against Gulf states.
When questioned by reporters on whether Israel pressured the U.S. into initiating military action against Iran early Saturday—a theory making the rounds—the President promptly denied it.
“No, it is possible that I pressured them. My belief was that they [Iran] intended to strike first… Had we not acted, they would have attacked first. I felt very strongly about this,” he remarked, justifying the U.S. operation as a pre-emptive strike. “Israel was prepared, and we were prepared, and the impact we have had is immense.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously disclosed that the U.S. knew of planned Israeli strikes on Iran and noted that this intelligence influenced the decision to proceed with the attacks.
“We were aware that an Israeli operation was imminent. We knew this would trigger an assault on American troops, and we understood that if we did not strike them pre-emptively before they launched those attacks, we would incur more casualties and potentially more deaths. Then, we would all be here answering questions about why we knew and did nothing,” Rubio stated at the Capitol on Tuesday.
“We knew that if Iran were attacked—and we believed they would be—they would immediately target us,” he explained.
Merz, on the other hand, mirrored the sentiments of many of his European counterparts when addressing the war, which is wreaking havoc on global oil and gas trade and affecting European markets.
The German legislator expressed his hope that the hostilities will “come to an end as soon as possible.” However, Trump provided no specific timeline for that outcome. “We are simply continuing to move forward,” he remarked.
Six U.S. service members have been killed in the conflict thus far, with others sustaining serious injuries. Trump has honored the fallen troops as “true American patriots.”
As of Tuesday, the strikes have resulted in the deaths of over 780 individuals in Iran, according to reports.
Since the aerial bombardments commenced over the weekend, Iran, along with its proxy partner Hezbollah in Lebanon, has executed retaliatory strikes against Israel.
In response, Israel has broadened its military campaign and has deployed ground forces in southern Lebanon.