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US President Donald Trump on Thursday (local time) asserted that the United States has "already won the war" against Iran "militarily", claiming that US and Israeli strikes have significantly degraded Tehran's naval and missile capabilities.
During an interview with Fox News, Trump reiterated his view that Iranian military strength has been "knocked out" amid the West Asia conflict, stating that the naval forces and missile launch capacity of the Islamic Republic have been dramatically reduced during the ongoing conflict. "We have already won the war, militarily. We have totally won the war," Trump said during the interview with Fox News, asserting that US-led operations had neutralised key elements of Iran's military infrastructure and capabilities. Trump claimed that the United States had effectively destroyed Iran's naval and air force assets, including dozens of ships, and significantly degraded Iranian missile forces. "We have already won because we have knocked out their navy; we have knocked out their air force, completely knocked out the air force, just about completely knocked out; we knocked out 154 ships, pretty good ships, in fact, I said, 'why didn't we just take them instead of sinking them we could've used them ourselves, right?' But they like showing how tough they are," the US President said. "We knocked out their navy, we knocked out their air force, and we knocked out most of their missiles. They are down to about 9%. We knocked out their missile launchers, which is a big deal because without the missile launchers the missiles don't do very well," he added, highlighting what he described as a near collapse of Iranian military strength. The development comes as diplomatic engagements between Washington and Tehran continue amid the conflict in West Asia, following US-Israel joint military strikes on Iran on February 28, which led to the death of 86-year-old Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after which Tehran, in retaliation, targeted Israel and US assets in several Gulf countries, causing disruption in the waterways and affecting international energy markets and global economic stability. Meanwhile, Trump, earlier today, stated that he is extending the pause on strikes targeting Iran's energy infrastructure for an additional 10 days, until Monday, April 6, 2026, as part of the ongoing diplomatic talks between the sides amid the conflict in West Asia. In a post on Truth Social, the US President claims that the announcement comes as per a "request" from the Iranian Government. He further stated that the negotiations with Tehran were "going very well". He further slammed the media for reporting "erroneous statements" contradicting the US president. "As per Iranian Government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time. Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well," the post read. (ANI)
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