“We Have Won This, Militarily They Are Dead”: Trump on Iran War

Washington, DC [US], March 25 (ANI): US President Donald Trump said the United States has effectively won the war, asserting that Iran’s naval and air capabilities have been completely destroyed.

Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony for the Secretary of Homeland Security, Trump said, “We’re in negotiations right now. I can tell you, they’d like to make a deal—and who wouldn’t if you were there? Look, their navy’s gone, their air force is gone, their communications are gone. Pretty much everything they have is gone.”

On the prospects of peace negotiations, Trump said he believes the conflict could soon come to an end. “I think we are going to end it. I cannot tell you for sure. We have won this. We literally have planes flying over Tehran and other parts of their country. They can’t do a thing about it. For instance, if I want to take down that power plant, they can’t do a thing about it. They are totally defeated. Militarily, they are dead,” he said.

Trump emphasized that Iran would not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. “We will have control of anything we want. If we can end this without more lives being lost, without knocking out $10 billion electric plants that are brand new—the apple of their eye—I would like to do that. They can’t have certain things. It starts with no nuclear weapons, and they have agreed to that. There won’t be any nuclear weapons,” he said.

He added that the United States is in a strong negotiating position. “We are in about the best bargaining position. We are way ahead of schedule. They have no navy, no air force, and no missile protection,” Trump said.

Explaining why talks are ongoing, Trump said Iran appears willing to negotiate. “Because they are going to make a deal. They gave us a present yesterday, and it arrived today. It was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money. It was oil- and gas-related,” he said, without providing further details.

He also claimed that Iran’s leadership had been largely eliminated in earlier strikes. “The leadership was killed—all gone. Khamenei was all gone, as the expression goes, the past Supreme Leader. Then the new Supreme Leader was, at a minimum, hit pretty hard,” Trump said.

Despite ongoing negotiations, Trump expressed skepticism. “I don’t trust anybody. Why do you say trust? Do you think I trust them? I don’t trust them,” he said.

He described the situation as a shift in leadership within Iran. “We have a new group, and we can easily deal with that, but let’s see how they turn out. This is a change in the regime because the leaders are all very different from the ones we started with,” he said.

On the decision to pursue a ceasefire, Trump said, “The fact that they are talking to us and they are talking sense. It all starts with: they cannot have a nuclear weapon. They asked what are the top priorities. I said numbers one, two, and three are that they can’t have a nuclear weapon. They have agreed they will never have one.”

Trump reiterated that negotiations are ongoing. “We are in negotiations right now. The other side would like to make a deal. All of the anti-aircraft and most of their missiles are gone. Today we were going to have the option of striking a very large electric generation plant, one of the biggest in the world. We held off because we are negotiating,” he said.

Meanwhile, Trump also fueled diplomatic speculation about a potential mediating role for Pakistan in the ongoing tensions between Washington and Tehran after sharing a statement from Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

In a post on X, Sharif said Pakistan was “ready and honored” to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks between the United States and Iran, provided both sides agree.

The renewed diplomatic momentum follows Trump’s recent announcement of a five-day pause on planned strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure. (ANI)