President Trump said that US military action in Iran could end as soon as “two or three weeks” – with or without a deal brokered between the two sides. The US has achieved its goals in the country, Trump said, primarily that of curtailing Iran’s ability to obtain a nuclear weapon – and the US was now “finishing the job”.
Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said Tehran has the “necessary will” to end the war, provided certain conditions were met, according to Iranian state media.
This is not the first time during the month-long war, started when the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February, that Trump has said there would be an imminent end to the conflict.
“We’re finishing the job, and I think within maybe two weeks, maybe a couple of days longer, to do the job.”
He said there “could be a deal” between Washington and Tehran before then, but added “it doesn’t matter if they come to the table or not”.
“We’ve set them back 15-20 years. They have no navy, no military, no air force.”
Once the US was sure Iran would not be able to “come up with a nuclear weapon”, then it would leave with or without a deal in place, Trump said.
“It’s irrelevant now, it’s possible that we’ll have a deal because they want to make a deal,” he added.
His comments came ahead of the president making an address to the nation to provide an “important update on Iran” at 21:00 ET on Wednesday (02:00 BST on Thursday), White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said the end of the war was in sight and there are “talks going on”. He told Fox News: “There is the potential for direct meeting at some point. We’re always going to be open for that.”
However, he said that Trump would not allow “fake negotiations to be used as a delay tactic to buy more time”.
Iranian president Pezeshkian said that his country would need guarantees “required to prevent repetition of the aggression” in order for the conflict to end. His remarks, made in conversation with European Council President António Costa, were originally reported by Iranian state media.
Following the conversation, Costa wrote on X: “To de-escalate the situation, I urged Iran to stop the unacceptable attacks on countries in the region and to engage positively on the diplomatic track, notably with the UN to ensure the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”
Strikes from both sides continued across the region throughout Tuesday and into the night, with US Central Command releasing a video showing its forces dropping what it called precision munitions on underground military targets in Iran.
Israel said it attacked an Iranian factory, which Israel claims was involved in the production of chemical weapons. Iran said the site was making medicines.
Also overnight, Lebanon’s capital Beirut was hit by heavy Israeli airstrikes. Israel’s military says it struck a commander and another senior figure from the armed group Hezbollah, which is supporting Iran in the war.
The Gulf, which has come under Iranian attacks because of the presence of US military bases, also continued to be targeted.
Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted two drones, while a tanker off the coast of Qatar was hit by a missile. Bahrain was also attacked, and a fire broke out at Kuwait’s International Airport following drone hits.
On Wednesday morning, the Israeli military said it had detected a new wave of projectiles fired from Iran toward Israel.
By BBC News
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