Washington: US President Donald Trump has said that the United States would win its war with Iran “very quickly”, claiming Tehran’s military capabilities had been severely degraded and Washington had established “virtually total control” of the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.
Trump made the remarks on Wednesday (local time) during a White House event marking National Hispanic Heritage Month, where he ranged across foreign policy issues including Iraq, Iran and Venezuela before turning to the theme of the celebration.
“Likewise in Iran, we have been there for six months with 18 killed. By the way, one is too many. But they lost 4,500. We lost 18,” Trump said.
“And we have very soon — you’ll see things happening very soon,” he added.
Trump claimed Iran had suffered extensive military and economic damage.
“But we have a nation that’s been virtually destroyed. Their economy is no good. They have 300 per cent-plus inflation,” he said.
“Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone. Their anti-aircraft equipment is gone.”
Trump then turned to the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy shipping routes.
“The last week in the Hormuz Strait, which we have almost total control — I would say total, but every once in a while they’ll drop a mine in there and disrupt things a little bit, but we have virtually total control of the Hormuz Strait,” he said.
Trump also claimed that oil movements through the waterway had reached a record level over the past three days.
“And in fact, in the last three days more oil has come out of the Hormuz Strait than at any time in the history of the Hormuz Strait,” he said.
“I’m not talking about since the war. I’m saying at any time in history. It’s been — it’s been pent up.”
Trump did not provide figures to support the claim during his remarks.
The President suggested that the conflict with Iran could soon reach a decisive stage, but did not spell out what actions the United States planned next.
“We have another one where we’re six months in. And we have — you know, their military is totally wiped out. And we’re going to have that war won very quickly, one way or the other,” Trump said.
“They’ll either be one way or the other. Does anyone know what that means? I don’t know.”
His remarks on Iran came immediately after he compared the conflict with US military operations in Venezuela and the long American military involvement in Iraq.
Trump announced at the same event that the last American forces were leaving Iraq, describing the withdrawal as the end of a 23-year US military involvement there.
“We came to fight a caliphate; and there is no longer a caliphate, so we are going home indeed,” Trump said.
He said the United States had lost more than 4,500 military personnel during the Iraq conflict and more than 31,000 had been injured.
Trump contrasted those figures with the casualties he cited from the conflict with Iran and repeatedly presented the comparison as evidence of a different approach to US military operations.
The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. It is a critical route for oil and liquefied natural gas shipments from major Gulf producers to international markets, including Asian economies.
