Trump says Iran has ‘very little left’ after ninth night of US strikes

President Trump says Iran has been “very badly damaged” after nine nights over US airstrikes.

By World Israel News Staff

President Donald Trump said Iran’s military had been severely weakened after US forces completed a ninth consecutive night of strikes, while renewed Iranian attacks on American troops and commercial shipping pushed the conflict closer to a broader regional war.

Speaking to reporters after returning to Washington from the World Cup final Sunday night, Trump said the continuing US campaign had destroyed much of Iran’s military capacity.

“Iran has been very, very badly damaged,” Trump said. “They’ve got very little left.”

Trump said Iran retained some missiles, drones and weapons-manufacturing capacity but claimed the United States had gained the upper hand in the confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz.

“We control the strait. They don’t control anything,” he said.

The president said the latest strikes were launched partly in response to the recent deaths of American service members in Jordan and Iraq.

“We hit them very hard again tonight,” Trump said, adding that the attacks were carried out in honor of the troops who were killed.

US Central Command said the latest operation ended at approximately 10 p.m. EDT Sunday and targeted Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance facilities, maritime forces, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks.

The operation was intended to further reduce Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels and civilian crews passing through the Strait of Hormuz, CENTCOM said.

“The US military is holding Iran accountable,” the command said, adding that its forces remained “highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready.”

Iranian media reported explosions early Monday across several widely separated parts of the country, indicating that the US campaign had expanded geographically.

Blasts were reported around Tabriz in northwestern Iran, where the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is believed to operate underground missile facilities. Iranian reports also described attacks or explosions in Chabahar, Konarak, Jask, Sirik, Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said at least one person was killed near Tabriz. Iranian authorities also reported power outages following a strike in Bushehr province.

The latest attacks came after the collapse of a month-old interim agreement intended to halt fighting between Washington and Tehran and establish negotiations on a lasting settlement.

The renewed confrontation has focused heavily on the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically vital waterway used to transport a significant share of the world’s oil and natural gas.

Washington has accused Iran of attacking civilian vessels and attempting to control international shipping lanes. Iran says the United States has violated the interim agreement through its military operations and efforts to direct ships through a protected corridor near Oman.

“As long as Iran insists on controlling an international waterway, we’re gonna have to respond to that,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

Rubio said Washington remained willing to negotiate despite the continuing air campaign.

“The United States always remains open to a diplomatic solution,” he said, although he stressed that any negotiations “have to be real.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said proposals delivered through intermediaries had been received by Tehran but did not disclose their contents.

The latest round of US strikes followed several Iranian attacks on American forces and US-aligned countries across the Middle East.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Monday that they had targeted American aircraft at Jordan’s Aqaba airport, as well as US military equipment at Ali Al Salem Air Base and Camp Arifjan in Kuwait and American positions in Syria.

Missile-warning sirens sounded in Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, while Kuwait said its air defenses were intercepting Iranian drones. Kuwaiti authorities also reported that a desalination facility had been attacked for a second consecutive day.

The escalation followed the deaths of two US service members during an Iranian missile and drone attack in Jordan on Friday.

CENTCOM initially said another service member was missing. Military personnel later found unidentified remains at the attack site, though an examination was still underway to confirm their identity.

A separate American service member was killed Saturday in northern Iraq during the controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance recovered from a downed Iranian attack drone. Another service member suffered a minor injury.

The recent deaths brought the number of US military personnel killed since the conflict began in February to 17, while more than 420 have been wounded.

Trump said the US campaign was also aimed at ensuring Iran could not develop a nuclear-armed missile.

“What we’re doing now is we’re ending any chance where they can have a nuclear missile,” he said.

The conflict has sharply disrupted commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said Monday that two oil tankers had exploded and become immobilized after attempting to travel through what Tehran described as an unsafe route in the strait.

The IRGC did not identify the ships, their flags or their crews, and the claim could not immediately be independently confirmed.

A separate vessel caught fire near the Omani coast after reportedly being hit by a projectile. Its crew abandoned the ship, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center.

Shipping data indicated that only four vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, down from eight a day earlier. Oil prices rose above $90 per barrel Monday amid concerns that continuing attacks could further restrict energy exports.

Donald TrumpIranIran war