Trump says Iran has "almost no targets left to strike" U.S. military hints next target is Iranian ports
U.S. President Trump said on Wednesday, March 11, during a phone interview with news website Axios, that Iran "has almost nothing left to strike." For days, Trump has repeatedly made statements suggesting that the U.S. military action against Iran is about to end. Meanwhile, the U.S. military has hinted that the next possible target could be Iranian ports.
Trump said, "It will stop as soon as I want it to." He predicted the war would "end soon." Not long before, the Israeli defense minister had stated that the joint military operation between Israel and the United States would "continue indefinitely."
Additionally, Trump, in an interview at the White House, pledged that the Strait of Hormuz would soon return to a "highly secure" state. The Strait of Hormuz is an extremely important channel for global oil trade, but shipping has nearly come to a standstill due to the Middle East conflict.
The U.S. military command responsible for the Middle East - the U.S. Central Command (Centcom) - called on Iranian civilians to stay away from ports along the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday. Washington claims that Tehran is using these ports for military purposes. The U.S. Central Command stated, "Civilian ports used for military purposes will lose their protected status and become legitimate military targets under international law."
Due to the surge in oil prices threatening the global economy, and the long-term conflict potentially bringing political disadvantages to his party, Trump suddenly changed his tone on Monday, stating that this war would only be "a brief operation." He also repeatedly stated that the progress of the military operation was far faster than the four to five weeks timeline he had outlined when the war began on February 28. However, as usual, some of Trump's statements contradict the idea that the conflict is about to end quickly. On Monday, he had threatened to strike Iran "with much greater force," and said, "We have temporarily reserved the most important targets for use when needed."
Source: rfi
Original: toutiao.com/article/1859391883905036/
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