US-Israel-Iran War Live News Updates: Trump Claims 'Overwhelming Victories'; Iran Intensifies Attacks Against Israel

The president said at the top of his address that he wanted to “discuss why Operation Epic Fury is necessary for the safety of America and the security of the free world,” showing that part of the goal for Wednesday's speech was to take on the confusion that has persisted as he and his administration have shifted their reasons for launching the mission and its objectives.

But Wednesday night, Trump did not offer any new explanations.

He maintained that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, calling such a prospect “an intolerable threat.”

Trump said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “is being decimated as we speak." "In these past four weeks our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield," Trump said.

However, his claim "Iran has been essentially decimated" and that efforts by other nations to secure the Strait of Hormuz "should be easy," data from independent observers does not support this claim.

Seth R Freeman, GlassRatner Advisory & Capital Group spoke to NDTV Profit on what he thinks of US President Donald Trump's speech to the nation. Here's what he said:

• Trump's speech is a recap of what he has been saying for the last three weeks. We didn't hear anything new or anything definitive either.
• Trump's message is confusing, as on one side Trump threatens to "obliterate" Iran, while on the other, he says negotiations are ongoing, which is confusing.
• Futures are down and oil prices are rising, so it is not clearly playing very well.
• There is a consensus that the damage being done will take weeks/months to get back to normal.
• Market sentiment will be negative and can go negatively over time.
• Trump's popularity is extremely low, and the perception of how the US economy is being managed is at its lowest so far, going back even before his first term.
• Clearly, it was understood the Strait Of Hormuz would be for the Iranians, and they figured it out. This 20% access, especially LNG, affects the entire world, and I don't think it will snap back. The overall supply chain will have an impact for months. The impact will be on consumer spending, which is such a big part of our economy.
   

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said US forces will 'finish the job' in Iran soon as 'core strategic objectives are nearing completion' during his prime-time address. Trump claimed significant progress had been made towards achieving his goals in the war with Iran, which are to destroy the country's missile production and Navy, ensure its proxies can no longer destabilise the region and guarantee Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.

(Source: AP)

Trump says the military action is not for getting any of the country's vast resources, including oil, but instead to help America's allies. "We're now totally independent of the Middle East, and yet we are there to help," he said. “We don't have to be there. We don't need their oil. We don't need anything they have." But, he added, "we're there to help our allies."

(Source: AP)

US President Donald Trump said he is not sure if people in the US have patience' for the Iran war to continue. His private remarks at an Easter lunch at the White House seemed to reflect the domestic pressure the president is feeling to wrap up the war. He said the US could “very easily” take Iran's oil but said it “is unfortunate” that there did not seem to be patience among the American people for such an effort. "They want to see it end," he said.

(Source: AP)

Trump also said that the country's "navy is gone, their air force is in ruins," and the country's leaders, "are now dead." He also said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps "is being decimated as we speak." This is Trump's first prime-time speech since launching strikes alongside Israel more than a month ago.

With the speech, Trump is getting a wide audience to articulate clear objectives for the war that could attempt to reconcile weeks of changing goals and often contradictory messages about whether he's winding down or ready to escalate military operations — even as Iran kept up its attacks on Israel and Persian Gulf neighbors and airstrikes pounded Tehran.

"In these past four weeks our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield," Trump said.

(Source: AP)

US President Donald Trump's prime-time address offered an update on the progress made toward achieving his goals in the war with Iran, which are to destroy the country's missile production and Navy, ensure its proxies can no longer destabilise the region and guarantee Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.

Speaking in the Cross Hall at the White House, Trump said that Operation Epic Fury's actions over the past month meant that Iran's “ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed, and their weapons factories and rocket launchers are being blown to pieces.”

(Source: AP)