Trump defends US, Israel joint strike on Iran, cites 'mass terror' threat

In his first comments on the Iran war, US President Donald Trump said the objective was to eliminate imminent threats from Tehran and prevent the regime from acquiring nuclear weapons

In his first comments on the Iran war, US President Donald Trump said the objective was to "defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime". In a video address on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump called the Iranian regime a "menacing and hard" group of people, whose actions directly endangered US troops and bases across the world, as well as its allies.

 

Trump listed a litany of Iranian state-backed actions as proof of the regime's anti-US sentiment since it came to power. He harked back to the 1979 overthrow of the Shah of Iran by the Islamic regime, recalling how one of the regime's first acts had been to violently take over the US Embassy and hold American citizens hostage for 444 days. He also referred to the 1983 bombing of US barracks in Beirut that killed 241 US military personnel. He claimed that Iran was also likely aware of and involved in the bombing of the USS Cole. He said the regime had launched countless attacks against US defence forces in the region as well as international shipping lines.

 

 

"It's been mass terror, and we are not going to put up with it any longer," Trump declared, accusing it of arming and funding terrorist militias that have "soaked the earth with blood and guts". He also linked it to Hamas, referencing the October 7 attacks inside Israel.

 

"Iran is the world's No. 1 state sponsor of terror, and recently killed tens of thousands of its own citizens in the streets as they protested," he said, referring to the recent uprising by ordinary Iranian citizens against what they said were excesses by the Islamic regime.

 

"This terrorist regime can never have a nuclear weapon," he said, adding that that was the reason the US took out three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites last June as part of Operation Midnight Hammer. 

"We warned them never to resume their pursuit of nuclear weapons," he said, saying Iran had hemmed and hawed for too long, and just wanted to "practice evil", and that they had for too long rejected every chance to give up their nuclear weapons. Instead, the regime, he said, developed long-range missiles that threatened Europe and could soon reach the US. 

 

As a result, Trump said the US military has undertaken a massive and ongoing operation to prevent this "wicked, radical dictatorship" from threatening the US' core national security interests. 

 

He also said Iran's missile programme would be "obliterated" and its Navy would be "annihilated". 

 

"This regime will soon learn that no one should challenge the strength and might of the United States' armed forces," he said.   

While he highlighted his administration's efforts to reduce risk to US troops in the region, he maintained that "... the Iranian regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties that often happens in war, but we're doing this, not for now. We're doing this for the future, and it is a noble mission."

 

He also sent out a stark message to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, as well as to Iran's armed forces and its police, asking them to lay down arms in exchange for immunity, failing which they would face "certain death". 

 

"Finally, to the great, proud people of Iran, your hour of freedom is at hand," he announced, asking them to stay sheltered inside their homes because '...bombs will be falling everywhere". 

 

"When we are finished, take over your government, it is yours to take, this will probably be your only change in generations," he exhorted, adding that they were backed by the overwhelming strength and devastating force of the United States. "Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is within your reach. This is the moment for action, do not let it pass," Trump said in a direct message to the Iranian public.