Donald Trump: US operation against the Islamic Republic will end soon

US President Donald Trump said on the evening of Wednesday, 21 October (US time), at a campaign rally in the state of South Carolina that the US military operation against the Islamic Republic will end "very soon" and that the government will never obtain a nuclear weapon. He added that the United States could pull out of the conflict right now, but wants to make sure the current situation remains stable for a long time.

The remarks came a few hours after reports that the US and Israeli militaries had prepared new plans to strike the Islamic Republic after the US midterm elections, and after residents of Sirik reported a second strike on an IRGC missile platform.

What Trump said about the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme

The US president once again defended his withdrawal from the JCPOA, calling that agreement a path for the Islamic Republic to a nuclear weapon. He cited Operation Midnight Hammer and Operation Epic Fury and said these operations had destroyed the Islamic Republic's enrichment capability. According to him, the United States has defeated the government militarily and financially, and this should have been done years ago.

Trump called the Islamic Republic one of the world's state sponsors of terrorism and said that if it had obtained a nuclear weapon, it would have used it within the very first hour.

The Strait of Hormuz and oil prices

Speaking about the naval blockade of the Islamic Republic's ports, the US president said he had blockaded the Strait of Hormuz and called it the "Strait of Trump". He said oil prices would fall quickly once the war ends, and described the current rise in fuel prices as a small cost compared with preventing the Islamic Republic from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Background: Trump's recent remarks on the Islamic Republic

In recent days Trump has spoken about the Islamic Republic at several campaign rallies. At the White House he had said the only decision left is whether the United States wins the soft way or the hard way, and in Kansas he had said the Islamic Republic has killed at least 75,000 protesters. The US naval blockade has been back in force since 14 July and, according to tanker-tracking monitors, has brought the Islamic Republic's crude oil exports almost to zero.

Trump says the United States could leave the war right now, but first wants to be sure the outcome will last.