United States President Donald Trump pushed back against news reports suggesting his senior advisers are trying to prevent further military escalation with Iran before the upcoming November midterm elections. Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump insisted that domestic political considerations have no impact on his national security decisions regarding Tehran's nuclear capabilities.
The president addressed the recent high scale military strikes conducted against Iranian assets, affirming that American forces are ready to carry out further actions immediately if required. "I'm not influenced by the elections," Trump stated to reporters in response to questions about reported White House restraint. "I think my party appreciates the fact that we are not allowing Iran to possess a nuclear weapon, and frankly, other presidents should have done it, but they didn't have what it takes to do it".
Referring to the military strikes executed against Iranian positions, Trump emphasized the scale of the operations and warned of continued readiness. "It was a very heavy attack last night, and we are ready to carry out another one every moment we want," Trump remarked according to Reuters reports.
Trump also discussed internal domestic conditions within Iran, pointing to the regime's violent suppression of public demonstrations as a signal of its diminishing stability. "The regime is becoming weaker and weaker day by day, and at some point they will no longer be able to shoot so easily, because I think the people will not agree to accept it," Trump stated. "Most people are incapable of killing their own people like that, most people try to talk, to conduct a dialogue, and then maybe a coup happens".
The president detailed the brutal methods used by security forces against domestic protesters inside Iranian cities. "In Iran they kill the people when they go out to demonstrate, they shoot them right between the eyes, with machine guns and snipers," Trump declared.
Addressing the strategic situation in the Persian Gulf, Trump maintained that the United States Navy exercises firm operational control over critical maritime passages. "We controlled and we control the Strait of Hormuz," Trump asserted. "We pass through it every day a very large number of ships with millions of barrels of oil, in most cases we do it without problems, occasionally they launch a drone and we shoot it down, but control is in our hands, very strong control".
Trump revealed that recent American strikes targeted specific experimental weapons systems developed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to disrupt international shipping. "They tried to rebuild their radar systems, a missile system and a system for laying mines," Trump explained. "You know, we got rid of all the mines in the Strait of Hormuz, they tried to build a rocket that disperses mines, who does such a thing? Have you ever heard of a rocket that disperses mines? I never heard of such a thing, but that's what they did, they built it, it was almost finished, so we destroyed it".
The president highlighted the reach of American intelligence capabilities monitoring military movements inside Iran. "We saw them building it, we see everything they do, they can't move, they can't go to the bathroom without us seeing it," Trump added. "So we saw it and destroyed it, we destroyed a few other things, and then we attacked them last night because they fired at us in Jordan, toward our base in Jordan".
Detailing the Iranian missile attack against the American installation in Jordan, Trump explained the air defense response. "We shot them all down, I think eight missiles were launched, and they were all shot down," Trump said. "One of them we allowed to continue because it was so inaccurate, it landed somewhere in the middle of the desert, so we let it continue, sometimes we allow them to continue if they aren't aimed correctly".
Trump concluded by reiterating the core objectives of the ongoing military operations and naval escorts. "They gave us a small blow, but we hit them very hard last night," Trump stated. "We destroyed all the new equipment they tried to build along the Strait of Hormuz, some of it defensive and some of it offensive, they tried to see the ships, because they can't see the ships, you know, we move a lot of ships through the strait, they can't see it because they have no radar, we blew it up, and last night we blew up much more than just their radar".
The president maintained a firm stance on Tehran's ultimate strategic ambitions as military actions continue. "It's very simple: Iran must not have a nuclear weapon," Trump concluded. "Once this is over, and I don't think it will last much longer, I don't know how much more they are capable of taking, but whatever it is, it doesn't matter".
