Trump says U.S .objectives in Iran ‘nearing completion’

“Tonight, I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” Mr. Trump said in his first prime-time address since the start of the conflict in late February.

“In these past four weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield — victories like few people have ever seen before,” he said.

Mr. Trump ‌said on ​Wednesday (April 1) ⁠that Washington will strike Iran “extremely hard” over ‌the next two ‌to ‌three ⁠weeks ⁠and hit the country into the “Stone ​Ages.”

“We ‌are going to hit them extremely ‌hard over ​the next two to three ⁠weeks. We are ‌going to bring them back to the ‌Stone Ages, where they ​belong,” Mr. Trump said.

Trump on Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump called on Wednesday (April 1) for countries that receive oil through the Strait of Hormuz to show “courage” and seize the key waterway, while saying Washington will not allow its West Asia allies to be harmed.

“The countries of the world that… receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage,” Mr. Trump said in his first prime-time address since the start of the war with Iran. “Just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves.”

He also thanked “…Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain,” saying: “They’ve been great, and we will not let them get hurt or fail in any way, shape or form.”

(With inputs from AFP)