- US President Donald Trump claims total victory over Iran with Operation Epic Fury's objectives met
- US asserts significant destruction of Iran's missile program and naval fleet
- Trump claims regime change occurred after killing Iran's Supreme Leader and officials
High-level delegations from the US and Iran meet in Islamabad today to discuss ending the war in the Middle East. A two-week ceasefire between the two sides began earlier this week.
US President Donald Trump maintains that the Iranian military has suffered defeat. On being asked whether he was claiming victory with the ceasefire, Trump told AFP, "Total and complete victory. 100 per cent. No question about it."
At the beginning of the strikes, Trump had laid out a few goals in a video message. He said that the major objective of "Operation Epic Fury" was to ensure that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon, besides destroying its navy and paving the way for regime change in the country.
Ahead of the US' meeting with Iranian officials on Saturday in Islamabad for a longer peace deal, here's taking a look at what Trump has accomplished so far:
Iran's Missile Prowess
In his video message, Trump said the US aimed to completely destroy Iran's missiles. A few days ago, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed that they had “functionally destroyed” Tehran's missile programme, along with its launchers, production facilities, as well as existing stockpiles.
But Hegseth mentioned that Iran "can still shoot" missiles, adding that it "would be very, very unwise". He stated that Iran would no longer build missiles, rockets, launchers, or unmanned aerial vehicles.
Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told The Washington Post that while the number of missiles coming out of Iran has dropped, they are still firing.
"I'm assuming they can still manufacture (and) launch missiles,” Vatanka said.
Trump's Claim On The Iranian Navy
On Trump's plan to "annihilate” Iran's navy, Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine this week said that Iran's navy had been obliterated.
“The Iranian Navy now lies mostly at the bottom of the Arabian Gulf, and we assess that we've sunk more than 90 per cent of their regular fleet, including all of the major surface combatants,” Caine said.
What About Iran's ‘Terrorist Proxies'?
Trump vowed that the US is ensuring that the "region's terrorist proxies can no longer destabilise the region or the world and attack our forces.”
Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran Program at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, has suggested that the US President was likely referring to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Shiite militias in Iraq, as well as Hamas in Gaza.
Taleblu suggests that the operation was focused on Iran's military capabilities, without any significant attempt to take on its proxies in the region.
Nuclear Power
Trump said that Iran's nuclear facilities were “totally obliterated” in June of last year when the US carried out strikes, "Operation Midnight Hammer," against three major Iranian nuclear sites.
Giving credit to Trump for stopping Iran from uranium enrichment, Taleblu said, "If you marry the two (combat operations), the image you get is really an extended shelf life for the win that the president scored against the regime last June."
But the enriched uranium still remains in Iran.
In a social media post, Trump earlier this week said the US will work with Iran to “dig up and remove all of the deeply buried” enriched uranium.
Regime Change
In his video, Trump encouraged the Iranian people to seize their government after the initial strikes, which killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with more than a dozen military and intelligence leaders.
He now claims that the country has “gone through what will be a very productive Regime Change!”
Khamenei has been succeeded by his son, Mojtaba, who is said to be a hard-line theocratic ruler.
