Former U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed that the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran could end soon, while acknowledging that Washington has not yet achieved all of its military objectives.
Speaking from Florida, Trump said the U.S. was “far ahead” of its original timeline in the conflict and suggested that American forces were making rapid progress on the battlefield.
“We’re knocking them out. We know where they all are. We’re knocking them out very quickly. We’re ahead of our initial timeline by a lot,” Trump said while providing an update on the situation.
Despite claiming that the U.S. had “already won in many ways,” he added that the country had not “won enough” yet, indicating that military operations were still ongoing.
Trump Warns of Wider Regional Threat
During a meeting with House Republicans earlier on Monday, Trump also claimed that Iran had been planning attacks across the Middle East and against Israel.
According to him, the situation could have had serious consequences for the region.
“Iran was going to attack all of the Middle East and Israel,” Trump said, adding that Israel “would have been wiped out.”
Israel Intensifies Strikes on Iran
The remarks came as Israel launched a new wave of large-scale strikes against targets in Iran, escalating tensions in the region.
Meanwhile, NATO confirmed that one of its defence systems intercepted an Iranian ballistic missile after it entered the alliance’s airspace.
According to Turkey’s defence ministry, air defence systems were activated in the eastern Mediterranean after a missile fired from Iran entered the airspace of Turkey.
Officials in Turkey said the country would take “all necessary steps” to defend itself if required. Iran has previously denied launching missiles toward Turkish territory.
Leadership Change in Iran
Amid the escalating conflict, Iran has announced a major leadership change. Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has reportedly been chosen as the country’s new leader.
His appointment comes more than a week after his father, Ali Khamenei, was killed in an airstrike during the ongoing hostilities.
The leadership shift adds another layer of uncertainty to the already volatile situation in the Middle East as military actions and political developments continue to unfold.
