Trump declares victory in Iran, but announces new attacks in the coming weeks and leaves the end of the war in the air

In a speech by openly triumphalist toneTrump has assured that the conflict, which began a month ago within the framework of the so-called ‘Epic Fury’ operation, “is very close to ending” after stating that he has “completed” all his “strategic objectives” in the Persian country.

He has argued that US forces have carried out an “unprecedented” military campaign that has left Iran “decimated” and without effective threat capacity.

The president has maintained that the “hard work” is done, after an offensive that, according to his version, has destroyed a good part of Iran’s naval and air capacity, has significantly reduced its missile and drone systems and has hit its command structure and military industry.

“Iran’s navy no longer exists, its leaders are already dead, its weapons have been reduced to pieces and the control of the Revolutionary Guard has been decimated,” he said. “We have crushed Iran’s ability to support its terrorist allies and they can no longer make a nuclear weapon. They no longer pose a threat“, he continued.

“It is a pleasure to say that these strategic objectives have been completed,” he continued: “Never in the history of war has an enemy suffered such devastation in a few weeks. We win like never before. Few victories like this have been seen.”

Trump has compared the duration of the conflict “of just 32 days” with wars such as Iraq or the two world wars to underline the speed of the offensive and has presented the operation as the culmination of a strategy initiated during his previous mandate.

The tenant of the White House has justified the war by arguing that the Islamic Republic was preparing a reconstruction of its nuclear program “in another place” – in reference to last summer’s attacks – and that is why they have had to “end them”.

However, at the end of this nationally televised speech, the president wanted to make it clear that the conflict is not over yet and that the coming weeks will be key: “Let’s hit them very hard over the next two or three weeks. “We are going to return them to the Stone Age, where they belong,” he said.

Military pressure without exit plan

Despite considering the offensive practically over, Trump has not specified how or when the end of the conflict will occur and has made it clear that the outcome will depend on the ongoing negotiations with Tehran.

He has insisted that Washington keeps any attempt to rebuild the Iranian nuclear program under surveillance and has warned that it will respond with new attacks if it detects movements in that direction.

The president has assured that the Army has identified new objectives and has indicated that will order “very harsh” attacksincluding simultaneous bombings against energy and electrical infrastructures, affirming at the same time that the dialogue with Tehran to end the conflict still continues.

At the same time, he has defended that the United States has so far avoided hitting the Iranian oil sector so as not to prevent an eventual reconstruction of the country, although he has made it clear that this option remains on the table. “We could attack their oil, and thus they would disappear,” he said.

The president considers the next few weeks key in the conflict: it is the deadline which he himself had suggested to end the war, despite having sent thousands of troops to the Middle East for a possible deployment of American troops on Iranian soil.

Energy, Hormuz and message to allies

The president has dedicated a relevant part of his speech to the energy dimension of the conflict and has defended that the United States no longer depends on oil from the Middle East, highlighting the increase in national production.

In this context, he has urged countries that depend on the crude oil that transits through the Strait of Hormuz to assume responsibility for protecting that strategic route and has suggested that they turn to American energy supplies.

According to him, the reopening of oil traffic will be a natural consequence of the end of the conflictsince Iran will need to sell crude oil to finance its reconstruction.

Trump has also thanked the support of his allies in the region, especially Israel and several Gulf countries, and has vindicated the role of the United States in Venezuela, which he has presented as a model of rapid intervention and energy cooperation to reinforce independence from the Middle East.

Change of regime and reference to the fallen

Although he has stressed that regime change “has not been the objective” of the operation, Trump has acknowledged that, in practice, this has occurred after the disappearance of a good part of the Iranian leadership.

As he explained, the new leaders would be “less radical and more reasonable”, which, in his opinion, opens the door to a possible agreement in the coming weeks.

Following a common line in this type of interventions, Trump has referred to the American soldiers who died during the operation and has recalled his visits to the Dover air base to receive their remains. The president has indicated that the families of the fallen have conveyed to him the importance of completing the mission, an idea that he has used to reinforce his commitment to “finish the job” in the short term.

The speech, which has not included specific announcements or a detailed exit planhas largely served to reiterate the messages that the president has been defending in recent weeks.

In fact, it has once again demonstrated its dual focus: on the one hand, he has proclaimed a practically consummated victory; On the other hand, it has left the door open to a new military escalation in the absence of an agreement.

US intelligence assessments also indicate that Iran would not be willing to negotiate for now, considering that it maintains a stronger position than expected, which complicates the possibility of a quick closure of the conflict.

Despite the forcefulness of the presidential account, the conflict is still active on the ground, with Iranian attacks in recent days and a situation that is far from being completely resolved.

In his speech, Trump has not made any reference to NATO nor has he proposed changes in the United States’ relationship with the Atlantic Alliance. However, in recent days it has even suggested in public statements that it would be considering an eventual withdrawal from the alliance, in a new source of tension with its European allies.