US President Donald Trump is adopting an increasingly hardline stance toward Iran, making it clear in his statements that he has no desire to proceed with negotiations to end the conflict. In fact, he left open the possibility that the war could only end if Iran’s military is completely destroyed and the country’s political and military leadership is eliminated.
Speaking to reporters Saturday aboard the presidential aircraft Air Force One, Trump argued that the ongoing aerial campaign might make negotiations unnecessary, given that all potential Iranian leaders could be killed and the military leadership eliminated.
Specifically, in a particularly harsh statement, the American president characteristically said: “At some point, there may be no leader left alive to say ‘we surrender’“. This statement intensifies the already tense climate in the Middle East and strengthens scenarios for further escalation of the conflict between the United States and Tehran.
Watch Donald Trump’s statement from 3:29 onwards:
Continuing, speaking about military operations against Iran, Trump said: “We have neutralized all 44 warships of their navy. We have destroyed their air force, every aircraft. We have destroyed most of their missiles. The missiles are now launched almost never. We have also hit very hard the production facilities where they manufacture the missiles. Their drone capability has been drastically reduced. Their military is almost non-existent. We could hit the military itself very hard, but maybe we will, maybe we won’t. We haven’t made that decision yet.”
