President Donald Trump said on Friday (local time) that the United States will soon end its military operations in Iran. Trump made these comments in a post on Truth Social, in which he listed five objectives, which mainly include the destruction of Iranian military infrastructure and facilities, preventing Iran from getting close to nuclear capability, and protecting America’s allies in West Asia, such as Israel, UAE, Qatar, etc.
Trump said, “We are considering ending our major military efforts with respect to Iran’s terrorist regime in the Middle East and are getting very close to accomplishing our objectives: (1) Completely disabling Iran’s missile capability, launchers, and everything related to them. (2) Destroying Iran’s defense industrial base. (3) Destroying their navy and air force, including anti-aircraft weapons. (4) Not allowing Iran to even get close to a nuclear capability and always being in a position where the U.S. (5) To defend our Middle Eastern allies, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and others, at the highest level.”
He added, “The Strait of Hormuz must be secured and monitored by other countries that use it. The US does not use it! If requested, we will assist these countries in their efforts related to the Strait of Hormuz, but this should not be required once the Iranian threat is eliminated. The important thing is that it will be an easier military operation for them.”
Meanwhile, US CENTCOM shared footage of attacks on Iranian assets in several posts on Twitter. The US carried out the strikes targeting the Khomeinishahr drone production plant in Isfahan, which produced the Shahed unilateral attack drone.
As the security situation in West Asia and the Gulf region continues to deteriorate, the US War Department shared an update on last week’s developments, saying thousands of Iranian targets were targeted in Operation Epic Fury.
US Central Command forces have damaged or sunk more than 120 Iranian naval vessels, including all 11 of its submarines.
Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said, “To the 50,000 servicemembers and their families supporting this mission, we are thinking of you, and we are extremely proud of your determination and resiliency. You are the best of our great nation.”
Earlier this week, Trump, Hegseth and Gen. Dan Kane, Chairman of the Air Force Joint Chiefs of Staff, paid tribute to the six crew members of the KC-135 Stratotanker who lost their lives in Operation Epic Fury along with seven other military personnel.
The post said that “targets being pursued under Operation Epic Fury include command and control centers; Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps headquarters and intelligence sites; air defense systems; ballistic missile, anti-ship missile and surface-to-air missile sites; weapons production and storage bunkers; military infrastructure and communications capabilities; and naval ships and submarines.”
The Wall Street Journal quoted US officials as saying that as the situation was constantly changing, Iran fired two medium-range ballistic missiles towards the joint US-British military base in Diego Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago.
According to the Washington Journal, one missile failed in flight, while a US warship attacked the other missile with an SM-3 interceptor. However, it is unclear whether the interception was successful or not. The report did not say when the missiles were fired.
The attack is significant because Diego Garcia is located about 4,000 kilometers away from Iran. This suggests that Iran’s missile capability may be much greater than publicly reported. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said last month that the country had limited its missile range to 2,000 kilometers, according to news reports.
The military base at Diego Garcia is an important strategic facility jointly operated by the United States and the United Kingdom.
Amid the current conflict, Trump said Washington does not want a ceasefire. Speaking outside the White House, he said, “We can negotiate, but I don’t want a ceasefire. You can’t have a ceasefire when you are completely destroying the other side. We don’t want to do that.”