World
US President Donald Trump speaks during a televised address on the conflict in the Middle East on April 1, 2026. Photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US President Donald Trump on Wednesday vowed another two to three weeks of "extremely hard" strikes against Iran, declaring that American forces were close to completing their objectives in the ongoing war.
In a televised address from the White House on the conflict since it began in late February Trump said, “over the next two to three weeks, we are going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong,” adding that US forces would meet all their goals “very, very shortly.”
Trump argued that the United States was nearing victory despite growing domestic pressure. “We are going to finish the job, and we're going to finish it very fast. We're getting very close,” he said, reiterating claims he has made in recent public appearances and on social media.
He outlined Washington’s objectives as dismantling Iran’s military capabilities, ending its support for regional armed groups, and preventing it from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
“I'm pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” he said, adding that US forces had delivered “swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield - victories like few people have ever seen before.”
The conflict, which began on February 28 after Israel launched attacks on Iran, has escalated sharply. Trump noted that most of the Iranian leaders are dead, referring to senior figures killed early in the fighting, including longtime supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Trump also renewed threats against Iran’s infrastructure, warning that if Tehran refuses to negotiate, the United States would “hit each and every one of their electric generating plants.”
He urged countries reliant on Gulf oil flows to take greater responsibility for securing the Strait of Hormuz, saying nations that “receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage,” and calling on them to “build up some delayed courage.”
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