ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US President Donald Trump suggested on Monday that the joint US-Israel campaign against Iran could “wrap up soon,” claiming that, without Washington’s intervention to stop Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, it would’ve “taken over the Middle East.” He also criticized allies for their lack of enthusiasm in securing the Strait of Hormuz, lamenting they were not “eager to help” reopen the vital oil route.
Trump slammed the Iranian leadership as “violent, vicious people,” claiming that “if they had a nuclear weapon, they would use it… and they would blow up the entire Middle East, not just Israel.”
He argued that Iran’s actions reflect its ambition to “take over the Middle East” and insisted that had he not withdrawn from the 2015 nuclear deal - officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - during his first term, Tehran would “have had a nuclear weapon three years ago.”
Referring to US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities during the 12-day war in June, Trump claimed that had he not directed the attacks, Iran “would’ve had a nuclear weapon within one month… they would have used it first on Israel, then the Middle East.”
The US and Israel on February 28 launched a joint campaign against Iran, with the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announcing in its latest tally on Tuesday that the operation, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, had targeted more than 7,000 sites across Iran since its start with the stated aim of dismantling Iran’s security structure.
Trump remarked on Monday that “in two weeks, we have decimated them. They have no navy, they have no air force, they have no anti-aircraft weapons, they have no leadership.”
During the first day of the aerial campaign, a strike in Tehran killed longtime Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei (1939 - 2026). Iran’s Assembly of Experts later named his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as his successor, though Trump suggested that “the son may also be gone,” implying he might have been killed. He further predicted that Iran would be “wrapped up soon” but did not provide a timeline.
In response to the US-Israeli campaign, Iran earlier this month said it launched more than 2,000 drones and over 600 missiles targeting US and Israeli positions in the region, especially in Gulf Arab states, as part of its multi-front response, titled Operation True Promise 4.
Tehran has also tightened its grip on the vital Strait of Hormuz, effectively closing it to commercial traffic.