US President Donald Trump has outlined the United States’ goals for the war against Iran and indicated that it will last “as long as it takes”. He said in Washington on 2 March that he had projected a military operation against Iran for four to five weeks, but it could drag on.
“I’ve said this from the beginning. They will never have nuclear weapons. They were on their way to getting one legally thanks to an agreement that our country foolishly signed,” Trump said, referring to the 2015 agreement between Iran, members of the UN Security Council and the European Union (this agreement provided for the partial lifting of sanctions on Tehran in exchange for control over its nuclear programme;opinion, the arrangements did not close Iran’s path to obtaining nuclear weapons).
According to the American president, the development of Iran’s ballistic missile programme poses a colossal threat to the US. Trump reiterated that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons.
The joint operation of the United States and Israel already in the first wave of strikes on 28 February caused the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a significant number of other high-ranking officials of the Iranian regime.
Iran’s military has attacked not only Israel or US military installations in the region with missiles and drones, but also many of its regional neighbours, which Tehran considers allies of the United States. Not only military but also civilian targets like residential buildings, hotels or airports have come under attack. Also attacked were the militaries of European countries present in the Middle East.
“They will never have nuclear weapons” – Trump on the goals of the operation against Iran