President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran was two weeks away from having nuclear weapons, prompting the United States to act.
Trump gave the remarks at the White House while signing the “Ratepayer Protection Pledge,” which was announced during his State of the Union address last month.
“If we didn’t hit within two weeks, they would’ve had a nuclear weapon,” Trump said at the meeting. “When crazy people have nuclear weapons, bad things happen.”
The strike on Iran, named Operation Epic Fury, was conducted jointly with Israel. Operating with U.S. intelligence, Israel targeted Iran’s leadership, while the U.S. targeted the nuclear and ballistic industry.
Speaking on Israel’s position, the president said if action was not taken, then Iran would have gone after Israel.
Trump offered a small update on the conflict in Iran as the U.S. military continues Operation Epic Fury in the region.
“We’re doing well on the war front, to put it mildly,” the president said. “Somebody said, ‘On a scale of 10, where would you rate it?’ I said, ‘About a 15.’”
Thus far, six American service members have been killed as a result of Operation Epic Fury. The president is slated to attend a dignified transfer of the six at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. The Pentagon has not specified the timing of the transfer.
Trump has previously said he expects the operation to continue for roughly four weeks, but has since said the operation is ahead of schedule after the U.S. sank 10 Iranian ships.
Hours prior to Trump’s comments on Iran, War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine gave an update on U.S. advances in Iran.
Caine said during the news conference that he expects the U.S. to have complete control of Iranian airspace in the coming days.
‘COMPLETE CONTROL OF IRANIAN SKIES’ AND OTHER TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM HEGSETH-CAINE BRIEFING
Additionally, U.S. forces have nearly erased the Iranian navy. The U.S. sank the lead ship of an Iranian class of missile corvettes, and an American military submarine sank an Iranian navy frigate.
Also on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reaffirmed that the State Department is working to get any and all U.S. citizens out of Iran and the Middle East. Approximately 17,500 Americans have been flown out of the region as of Wednesday.
