WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump suggested Monday that a war with Iran could last a month or longer.
“It’s OK,” he continued, “if even more time is needed to complete the operation,” dismissing potential readiness concerns, even as he said plans were ahead of schedule.
“We’ve already significantly exceeded our initial timeline.” But whatever the timing, it’s OK,” Trump said during a Medal of Honour ceremony at the White House honouring four service members killed in Iranian retaliatory strikes over the weekend. “Whatever it takes… From the beginning, we anticipated four to five weeks, but we can go much longer than that.”
He said a four-week plan to remove Iran’s military leadership had already been completed. “And as you know, it was done in about an hour,” he said. “Therefore, we’re significantly ahead of our original timeline.”
Trump listed four objectives for the US military campaign, known as “Epic Fury”: reducing Iran’s missile capabilities, destroying Iran’s navy, ensuring it could never obtain nuclear weapons and ensuring that Iran “cannot continue to arm, fund, and direct terrorist armies outside its borders”.
He said the army was prepared to continue operations “as long as necessary.”.
During his remarks, Trump also emphasised that he might lose interest in the conflict if it continued for “a week or two”, adding, “I don’t get bored.”
“There’s nothing boring about it,” Trump said.
He justified the timing of the strikes, saying it was “our last best chance” to target the threat from the Iranian regime after talks failed to reach an agreement last week.
“We thought we had an agreement and they backed out,” he said.
A senior Trump administration official said the talks took place in Geneva, where Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his US counterparts that Iran has an “indispensable right” to enrich uranium. He told NBC News in an interview on Sunday that they decided to attack when “they were not ready to stop their nuclear research.”
Other military leaders have said the war with Iran would not be “endless”, although the full scale and scope of the mission remain unclear. Trump has also issued different deadlines.
Trump has acknowledged the potential need for combat forces.
Earlier on Monday, Trump, in an interview, had ruled out the possibility of sending troops to Iran, suggesting the New York Post so that he can keep his shoes on the ground. He said that other leaders may have objections to doing this, but he does not.
“I have no objection to boots on the ground – as every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground. ‘I don’t say that,” Trump said.
In the same interview, when asked about the timeline, Trump predicted that the operation “is going to move very quickly.”
