The United States could be done with its five week-long war with Iran within two to three weeks, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday. He added that it's possible the war will end sooner if a deal is reached on Tehran giving up any capability to develop a nuclear weapon.
"We have had regime change. Now, regime change was not one of the things I had as a goal. I had one goal: they will have no nuclear weapon, and that goal has been attained. They will not have nuclear weapons. But we're finishing the job, and I think within maybe two weeks, maybe a couple of days longer, to do the job. But we want to knock out every single they have," Trump said from the Oval Office.
"It's possible that we'll have a deal because they want to make a deal. They want to make a deal more than I want to make a deal. But in a fairly short period of time, we'll be finished," Trump said.
"Now we have a group of people that's very — that are very different. They're much more reasonable," he said, projecting optimism about talks.
Trump called on other nations to take control of the Strait of Hormuz, expressing his frustration that the war is unresolved and the latest sign he is looking to exit the conflict as oil and gas prices surge.
Notably, he did not mention if Israel, which launched its military campaign jointly with Washington on Feb. 28, is on board with the plan.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told European Union Council President António Costa on Tuesday the Islamic Republic has "the necessary will to end this war" but expects certain requirements to be me.
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