US President Donald Trump on Monday claimed to have “obliterated” the military capabilities of Iran, saying the American forces have struck around 7,000 targets in Iran and destroyed over 100 Iranian naval vessels since the ‘Operation Epic Fury’ began on February 28.
Addressing a briefing in Washington DC, the US President also pointed to a significant reduction in Iranian missile and drone strikes. He claimed that Iran’s missile strikes have reduced by 90 per cent and drone attacks by 95 per cent.
Trump said that the new Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has not been seen and there are chances he is “badly disfigured” or even “dead”.
“A lot of people are saying that he’s badly disfigured. They’re saying that he lost his leg… Other people are saying he’s dead. Nobody is saying he’s 100% healthy, and he hasn’t spoken…,” he said.
Mojtaba Khamenei has indeed not been seen since the first day of the war when US and Israeli strikes killed his father and former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. A Reuters report citing an unnamed Iranian official also claimed that he was “lightly injured” in the US and Israeli attack.
However, Iran has claimed that Mojtaba is alive and healthy. He has also released a statement vowing to avenge the killing of Iranians and especially the little girls killed in the US attack on a primary school. Though there was no audio or video of Mojtaba and his message was read out by a news anchor of the Iranian state television.
Trump repeated his claim that Iran wants to make a deal and accused Tehran of spreading disinformation using fake AI videos.
“They’re talking to our people. I don’t know if they say that to you. Don’t forget, they’re a country based on disinformation. And now, they’re using disinformation and AI. They showed all sorts of things happening in the last 2 weeks that never happened, between their kamikaze boats that don’t exist, between blowing up an aircraft carrier, etc,” he said.
He also claimed to have “literally destroyed everything” on Kharg Island except for oil pipes.
“We attacked Kharg Island and literally destroyed everything on the island except the area where the oil is. We left the pipes. We didn’t want to do that, but we could do that at 5 minutes notice. But for purposes of someday rebuilding Iran, we did the right thing,” he said.
Urges allies to help in securing Hormuz Strait shipping route
The US President urged allies and countries dependent on the Strait of Hormuz to help the United States in reopening the shipping route in the Persian Gulf.
“We strongly encourage other nations whose economies depend on the strait, far more than ours… we want them to come and help us with the strait,” he said.
When a reporter asked him whether he has spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron about the coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said. “Yeah, I have spoken to him. He’s been, on a scale of 0-10, I’d say he’s been an 8. Not perfect — but it’s France.”
He said some countries have agreed to join the US efforts but refused to name which countries. He informed that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be making that announcement soon, adding that “some countries are local to the area and others are further away.”
UK and Germany have already refused to join the wider war in Iran. They have refused to send troops and are non-committal on sending their navies to the Hormuz Strait.
Trump said that he asked other nations to help out in the Strait of Hormuz “not because we need them, but because I want to find out how they react”.
“We don’t need anybody. We’re the strongest nation in the world. We have the strongest military, by far, in the world,” he added.