Trump claims Iran's military on brink of collapse, 70% of rocket launchers destroyed

Washington (The Uttam Hindu): US President Donald Trump claimed that Iran's military power has been almost completely weakened after a week of military conflict. American and Israeli attacks have severely damaged Iran's navy, air force, and missile capabilities. However, he also clarified that the US is not in a hurry to reach a deal with Tehran at the moment, but Washington has "negotiating leverage" for talks.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday, Trump said Iran's military had been dealt a major blow in the initial stages of the conflict. The US and Israel launched a joint military operation against Iran on February 28. Trump claimed that Iran's navy had been almost completely destroyed in the US strikes. He said, "We destroyed their navy, 44 ships were destroyed. We also destroyed their air force, every plane was destroyed."

President Trump also stated that the US strikes have severely damaged Iran's missile capabilities and launch systems. Approximately 70 percent of its rocket launchers have been destroyed so far. He explained that these systems are very expensive and difficult to acquire.

Trump claimed that the destruction of launchers and production capacity has significantly reduced Iran's ability to retaliate. He said Iran's strike capability has now dropped to just 9 percent of what it was carrying out during the first two days of the conflict. The president said Iran's military is nearly at a breaking point. "Their military is almost finished," he said.

Trump, however, declined to say how long the conflict would last. He only said that military action would continue as long as needed. He said, "I don't know, it'll last as long as it takes."

Trump also hinted that the conflict has affected Iran's leadership structure. He said, "We took out the first level of leadership, then we took out the second level of leadership. Now there are people leading the country who nobody even knows."

Despite the military pressure, Trump said the US is not currently looking for a diplomatic settlement. The US has the upper hand in negotiations. "We have a lot of negotiating leverage, probably maximum," Trump said. "They'll want to reach a settlement, but we're not looking for a settlement right now."

Trump also claimed that Iran recently apologized to neighboring Middle Eastern countries that were previously attacked. According to him, this is a sign that Iran is backing down. "They apologized to the Middle Eastern countries they attacked. That in itself is a surrender," Trump said.

Meanwhile, Trump also dismissed allegations that a girls' school in Iran was targeted by US strikes at the start of the conflict. He said that according to his information, the attack originated from Iran. When asked if Russia was helping Iran, Trump said, "No, I have no knowledge of that."

Trump also made it clear that the US would not allow Kurdish fighters to join the war, even if they were willing to. He said, "We are very good friends with the Kurds, but we don't want to complicate this war. I don't want the Kurds to get involved."

When asked if Iran's geographical or political structure might change after the war, Trump said, "The country may not look the same as it does now."

Trump said the entire military campaign was aimed at permanently weakening Iran's capabilities. "When this is all over, the world will be safer than ever before," Trump said.