The United States will carry out aggressive strikes on Iran over the next two to three weeks and is nearing completion of its main strategic objectives in the war, President Donald Trump said in a prime-time address to the nation on Wednesday, April 1.

Addressing a war-weary US public, Trump said his military had delivered “swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield,” during 32 days of military strikes and that Iran was no longer a security threat.

“I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly, very shortly,” Trump said in a nationally televised address.

“We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong.”

Thousands of people have been killed across the Middle East since February 28, when the US and Israel struck Iran, triggering Iranian attacks on Israel, US bases and the Gulf states, while opening a new front in Lebanon.

The conflict, which prompted Iran to shut the Strait of Hormuz — a key waterway carrying about a fifth of global oil supplies — has rattled financial markets and weighed on Trump’s sagging approval ratings months ahead of pivotal midterm congressional elections.

Stocks fell and oil prices rose sharply after Trump’s speech, with investors disappointed that a clearer path to swiftly ending the conflict was not spelled out.

Trump said the United States does not need the Strait of Hormuz and he challenged US allies who rely on oil in the region to work toward reopening it.

“Many Americans have been concerned to see the recent rise in gasoline prices here at home,” Trump said. “This short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers of neighboring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict.”

The International Monetary Fund, World Bank and International Energy Agency on Wednesday warned the war was having “substantial, global and highly asymmetric” effects and said they would coordinate their response, including through potential financial support to those countries hit hardest.

Nuclear threat

In an interview with Reuters earlier on Wednesday, Trump said US-Israeli strikes had ensured Iran would not obtain nuclear weapons, adding that US forces could return with “spot hits” if the threat resurfaces.

“They were right at the doorstep (of a nuclear weapon),” Trump said in his TV address, without providing evidence.

“In these past four weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield,” he said. “We are systematically dismantling the regime’s ability to threaten America or project power outside of their borders.”

Prior to Trump’s address, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a letter addressed to the American people that his country harbors no enmity towards ordinary Americans.

Yet prospects for a near-term end to the fighting remained elusive. A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Wednesday that Tehran is demanding a guaranteed ceasefire to halt its attacks and said no talks have taken place through intermediaries on a temporary truce. The New York Times reported separately that U.S. intelligence agencies assess Iran is currently unwilling to engage in substantial negotiations to end the war.

Trump said that discussions were ongoing with Iranian leaders he considered less radical than previous leaders.

“Yet if during this period of time, no deal is made we have our eyes on key targets,” Trump said. “If there’s no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants, very hard and probably simultaneously.”

Trump considers quitting NATO

Trump said on social media earlier on Wednesday that Iran had asked for a ceasefire but that he would not consider it until Tehran ceased blocking the Strait of Hormuz, which carries a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas.

Iran denied making any such request.

Two security sources from Pakistan, which is mediating in the conflict, told Reuters that Islamabad had proposed a temporary ceasefire but had not heard back from either side.

US Vice President JD Vance communicated with intermediaries from Pakistan about the Iran conflict as recently as Tuesday, according to a source briefed on the matter, making clear that Trump was open to a ceasefire if certain demands were met, including reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the source said.

Trump had suggested on Tuesday he could wind down the war in two to three weeks even without a deal, while scaling up threats to pull the US out of the NATO defense alliance if European states did not help stop Iran from blocking the waterway.

In his remarks to Reuters on Wednesday, Trump said he had planned to express his disgust with NATO for what he considers the alliance’s lack of support for US objectives in Iran.

Trump did not explicitly mention NATO in his address, but appeared to be sending a message to European allies, urging countries in need of oil to buy it from the United States or to “build up some delayed courage” and use the Strait of Hormuz.

“Go to the Strait and just take it,” Trump said. “Iran has been essentially decimated. The hard part is done, so it should be easy.”

European states have taken pains to appear unruffled, and France’s junior army minister Alice Rufo said operations by NATO in the Strait of Hormuz would be a breach of international law. – Rappler.com