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Trump says Iran was ‘at the doorstep’ of a nuclear weapon, defends strikes on nuclear sites
US President Donald Trump delivered a primetime address from the White House, outlining his rationale for military action against Iran.
US President Donald Trump delivered a primetime address from the White House on Thursday, laying out his case for military action against Iran and defending recent strikes on its nuclear programme.
Trump said that Iran was "right at the doorstep" of developing a nuclear weapon".
"Essentially, I did what no other president was willing to do. They made mistakes, and I am correcting them. My first preference was always the path of diplomacy, yet the regime continued their relentless quest for nuclear weapons and rejected every attempt at an agreement," he said.
"For this reason, in June, I ordered a strike on Iran's key nuclear facilities, and operation Midnight Hammer. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. Those beautiful B2 bombers performed magnificently," he added.
"We totally obliterated those nuclear sites. The regime then sought to rebuild their nuclear program in a totally different location, making clear they had no intention of abandoning their pursuit of nuclear weapons. They were also rapidly building a vast stockpile of ballistic missiles and would have soon had missiles that could reach American homeland, Europe and virtually any other place on earth," he added.
Trump on why ‘Iran cannot have nuclear weapons’
“For years, everyone has said that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. But in the end, those are just words if you’re not willing to take action when the time comes,” Trump said.
The president said, “In these past four weeks our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield” and slammed previous decades of U.S. policy, saying previous presidents “made mistakes and I am correcting them.”
“The situation has been going on for 47 years and should’ve been handled long before I arrived in office,” he said.
Trump also said Iran’s “navy is gone” and its “air force is in ruins,” adding that the country’s leadership had been killed and that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was “being decimated.”
The address marked his first primetime speech since joining Israel in launching strikes on Iran more than a month ago.
Speaking to a wide national audience, Trump sought to clarify the objectives of the war after weeks of mixed signals over whether the US intends to de-escalate or intensify military action, even as Iran continues attacks on Israel and Gulf neighbours and airstrikes hit Tehran.
