Trump says Iran’s military ‘lost their Navy, Air Force, radar and leaders’ amid US strikes

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump has claimed that Iran’s military capabilities have been severely damaged during the ongoing US-led campaign known as Operation Epic Fury.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, March 11, Trump stressed that US and Israel's forces are continuing operations and that pressure on Iran will remain. The operation is targeting Iran’s military and political establishments over its nuclear enrichment program.

Trump claims Iran’s military has been 'effectively destroyed'

According to Trump, Iran’s military structure has suffered major losses during the operation. “Our military is the best. It's the most powerful in the world, and they're hitting them very hard,” Trump said while speaking about the US campaign.

When asked what more needed to be done, he responded, “More of the same,” indicating that US forces will continue their current strategy.

Trump further explained the extent of the damage to Iran’s military. He said, “They've lost their navy. They've lost their air force. They have no anti-aircraft apparatus at all. They have no radar. Their leaders are gone and we could do a lot worse.”

He also noted that the US has deliberately left some Iranian capabilities intact for now, “We're leaving certain things that if we take them out, or we could take them out by this afternoon, in fact, within an hour, they literally would never be able to build that country back again."

Trump added that the strikes carried out by the US have already caused significant damage to Iran’s military, “We have hit them harder than virtually any country in history has been hit, and we're not finished yet,” he said.

Trump describes conflict in Iran as both 'war' and 'excursion'

While discussing the ongoing military campaign, Trump further described the situation, “Well, it’s both. It’s an excursion that will keep us out of a war. And the war is going to be — I mean for them it’s a war”.

He also claimed that the operation has progressed faster than expected “The war is going great. We are way ahead of the timetable. We have done more damage than we thought possible, even in the original six-week period.”

According to Trump, US strikes have destroyed thousands of Iranian missiles, drones, and mine-laying vessels during the campaign, “They had thousands of missiles… 7 or 8,000 missiles. We got many of them before they got to launch."

“They have drones all over the place — we got many. Now we're knocking out the drone plants, as you know, going fast. They started talking about mines, so we hit 28 mine-ships as of this moment,” Trump said while speaking to reporters before touring a science research and pharmaceutical facility in Ohio.

Trump further said that Iran posed a threat not only to Israel but also to other Gulf countries in the region, “They were after the rest of the Middle East. They are paying for 47 years of death and destruction they caused. This is payback. They will not get off that easy."