Al Jazeera

By Lyndal Rowlands and Zaid Sabah

    In an address to the nation that echoed his previous statements, President Donald Trump claims the United States’ core strategic objectives on the war on Iran are nearing completion.

    Trump’s speech came hours after he claimed Iran had asked for a ceasefire, a claim Tehran denied.

    Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian tells the US public his country has no hostility towards the people of the US, Europe, or its neighbours.

    US-Israeli forces continue to strike Iran, killing nine people in Larestan and Mianeh in recent hours, as Iranian counterattacks cause injuries and damage in central Israel.

    Firefighters in Kuwait put out a blaze at fuel tanks at the country’s main airport following an alleged Iranian attack, as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also report intercepting missiles and drones.

    Visit our live tracker for the latest casualty figures from across the region.

No casualties from Iranian missile attack on Israel

    Israel’s Channel 12 broadcaster says the missiles launched from Iran towards the northern areas of the country were intercepted and caused no casualties.

    The Israeli Home Front has also lifted its directive to take shelter.

    The Iranian semi-official Tasnim news agency, meanwhile, said the new wave of missile attacks began “after Trump announced that he had destroyed Iran’s missile capabilities”.

‘Nothing new to Iranians, same threats’

By Mohammed Vall

Reporting from Tehran, Iran

    The likelihood that Trump’s speech is going to force the Iranians to negotiate is likely slim because none of what he said tonight is new to them – it was the same threats and rhetoric against Iran.

    So the Iranian leaders are likely to continue the same type of rhetoric, focus on military defence and retaliations, and they will continue to say that there are no negotiations, because none of what he said tonight is going to encourage them to change their stance towards this war.

    And that, I think, is what the leaders here are going to say regarding this speech – that there is no new offer except that call for a deal, which is unclear to the Iranians because they haven’t seen any willingness for compromise on the part of the US.

    The gap appears to still be very wide between the two sides.

Key quotes from Trump on Strait of Hormuz, deal to end war

    “The United States imports almost no oil through the Hormuz Strait, and won’t be taking any in the future. We don’t need it… And the countries of the world that do receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage. They must cherish it. They must grab it and cherish it.”

    “In any event, when this conflict is over, the strait will open up naturally. It’ll just open up naturally. They’re gonna want to be able to sell oil, because that’s all they have to try and rebuild. It will resume the flowing, and the gas prices will rapidly come back down. Stock prices will rapidly go back up.”

    “Thanks to the progress we’ve made, I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly, very shortly. We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages very shortly, where they belong. In the meantime, discussions are ongoing.”

    “Regime change was not our goal. We never said regime change. A regime change has occurred because of all of their original leader’s death. They’re all dead. The new group is less radical and much more reasonable.”

    “Yet, if during this period of time, no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets. If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard, and probably simultaneously.”

    “We have not hit their oil, even though that’s the easiest target of all, because it would not give them even a small… a chance of survival or rebuilding. But we could hit it, and it would be gone, and there’s not a thing they could do about it.”

    “The country has been eviscerated and, essentially, is really no longer a threat.”

Key quotes from Trump on US progress in war on Iran

    “These past four weeks, our forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield.”

    “My first preference was always the path of diplomacy, yet the regime continued their relentless quest for nuclear weapons and rejected every attempt at an agreement.”

    “They had some weapons that nobody believed they had. We just learned that, we took them out, we took them all out, so that no one would really dare stop them.”

    “Our objectives are very simple and clear. We are systematically dismantling the regimes’ ability to threaten America or project power outside of their borders. That means eliminating Iran’s navy, which is now absolutely destroyed, hurting their air force and their missile programme at levels never seen before, and annihilating their defence industrial base. We have done all of that. Their navy is gone, their air force is gone. Their missiles are just about used up or beaten.”

    “Taken together, these actions will cripple Iran’s military, crush their ability to support terrorist proxies and deny them the ability to build a nuclear bomb. Our armed forces have been extraordinary. There’s never been anything like it militarily.”

    “Tonight, I am pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion.”

    “We are going to finish the job, and we’re gonna finish it very fast. We’re getting very close. I wanna thank our allies in the Middle East – Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain. They’ve been great, and we will not let them get hurt or fail in any way, shape or form.”

Rubio says Trump’s ‘powerful speech’ made US objectives clear

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that Trump’s “powerful speech” was “clear about our objectives in Iran”.

    In a post on X, Rubio listed those objectives as:

• destroy their weapons factories
• destroy their navy
• destroy their air force
• destroy their chances of ever having a nuclear weapon

    “The President’s leadership sends a message to the world that the United States will defend its people and its interests, and uphold peace through strength,” Rubio added.

Trump spoke with threatening tone towards Iran

By Alan Fisher

Reporting from the White House, Washington, DC

    Trump’s speech had a very threatening tone to Iran, and it’s clear that this war is going to continue for at least two or three more weeks.

    The US president also touched on the economy. He did talk about how people were finding prices much higher, but he tried to put the blame on Iran, not the fact that he started the war.

    We were looking for answers to how long this war will take. We think two or three weeks.

    How does the US get out of it  Not entirely clear.

    And what happens to the Strait of Hormuz  Trump seems to be suggesting it’s up to other countries to secure that; that the US has done their job, and everyone else should now move in and do theirs.

Warning sirens sound in Bahrain

    The Ministry of Interior has told people to “remain calm and head to the nearest safe place” as sirens blare warning of an incoming attack.

    Separately, the ministry also said that traffic flows had resumed along the Khalifa Bin Salman Highway following an earlier incident involving falling debris.

Despite Trump’s claims, US public ‘realises closure of Strait of Hormuz affects them, too’

    Richard Schmierer, a former US ambassador to Oman, says that Americans understand that while the US may not get much oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz, energy costs have still gone “through the roof”.

    “So, even if President Trump wants to say that whether the strait is open or closed is indifferent to us, the American people realise that’s not the case,” he told Al Jazeera.

    Schmierer also said that if “some kind of a ceasefire” can be reached, then “I do think we will get to the point where something can be arranged to allow shipping again through the strait”.

    But, he added, “The wild card might be Israel, because Israel has indicated that it has other goals that it is still seeking … even if the US declares that its goals are met.”

Trump’s national address ’embarrassing, incoherent’

    Harlan Ullman, a former senior US naval officer, has slammed Trump’s address to the nation, saying it failed to outline a clear strategy for the war on Iran.

    “The speech was embarrassing, depressing, incoherent and full of contradictions,” Ullman told Al Jazeera, warning that the administration’s focus on targeting Iranian oil infrastructure will likely backfire by driving up global fuel prices.

    “I think Iran will be looking at that as a victory speech for them,” he said.

Iran launches more missiles at Israel as Trump finishes speech

    Shortly after Trump concluded his remarks, in which he claimed that Iran’s military capabilities have been all-but crushed, the Israeli military said it detected Iranian missile launches.

    “Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the Israeli military said.

No major announcements: Trump’s speech echoes his past statements

By Ali Harb

Reporting from Washington, DC

    In his brief remarks, the US president made four familiar points: The war is necessary; it has been already won; it must continue; and it will wrap up soon – all arguments he has been making daily.

    Despite the glowing report he gave about the progress of the war, Trump appeared to extend the timeline of the conflict.

    “Over the next two to three weeks, we’re going to bring them back to the Stone Age, where they belong,” he said.

    At the outset of the war, the White House had said that the fighting would go on for four to six weeks, and we are in the middle of the fifth week.

    The US president did not provide details on how the war would actually end, or what kind of deal he is seeking with Iran.

    On the energy crisis and the Strait of Hormuz, Trump acknowledged the high petrol prices but did not communicate to the US public how he plans to resolve the effective closure of the waterway, beyond repeating his calls for other countries to “just take it”.

    Trump also touted “overwhelming victories”, but with Iran still in control of the Strait of Hormuz and able to fire drones and missiles at Israel and the entire region, officials in Tehran are also claiming they are winning.

    Public opinion polls have shown that a strong majority of people in the US oppose the conflict. Tonight, Trump tried to convince them with the same talking points that have failed to rally the public around the war over the past month.

Trump laying groundwork for longer campaign against Iran

    David Des Roches, a senior fellow at the Thayer Marshall Institute, says Trump laid the ground for a longer campaign against Iran during his address to the nation.

    Speaking to Al Jazeera, he said: “I expected him to make the case that Iran was a regional threat; he did, but then he said they have stuff that we knew about, but they also had things that we didn’t know about it, and it’s a good thing we found it.”

    Des Roches added: “I think that he … is acknowledging a little bit of a surprise, which he doesn’t normally do. I think he’s also laying the groundwork for quite possibly a longer campaign than he originally said.”

Trump again said war will continue for at least another few weeks

By Alan Fisher

Reporting from the White House, Washington, DC

    Everything that we heard from the US president was obviously very significant, but Trump reiterated what we’d already heard from him over the last few days – that this war was going to continue for at least another few weeks.

    Trump said the US had had swift and overwhelming victories, that it’s getting very close to the final victory – and set a timescale of somewhere in the region of two to three weeks for that to be carried out.

    Trump himself had said that he was going to be highly critical of NATO. There was some talk of how the allies should now move in and take control of the Strait of Hormuz, but there was no mention of NATO specifically.

    He said many of the strategic goals have been achieved, and over the next couple of weeks, the US forces were going to continue their bombing.

    In fact, he said they were going to bomb Iran back to the Dark Ages.

    He also made the point that he was going to start attacking Iran’s energy infrastructure if they didn’t come up with a deal.

Trump concludes: US on ‘cusp of ending Iran sinister threat’

    The US president has concluded his remarks by re-asserting that the war is already won and almost over.

    “We are on the cusp of ending Iran’s sinister threat to America and the world,” Trump said.

Trump says US will ‘hit Iran extremely hard’ over next 2-3 weeks, threatens power plants

    “We will continue until our objectives are fully achieved. Thanks to the progress we’ve made, I can say we are on track to complete all of America’s objectives shortly, very shortly,” the US president says.

    “We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to take them back to the stone ages where they belong,” he says.

    He adds that “regime change was never our goal” but that “regime change has occurred because of their original leader’s death”.

    He’s also warns Iran of strikes on power plants if no deal is agreed.

    “If during this period of time no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets. If no deal is reached, we are going to hit every one of their electric generating plants very hard, and probably simultaneously,” he says.

Trump calls war with Iran ‘investment’ in US children’s future

    The US president has portrayed the conflict as a push to secure a better and safer future for the US.

    “This is a true investment in your children and your grandchildren’s future,” Trump said. “The whole world is watching, and they can’t leave the power, strength and brilliance. They just can’t believe what they’re seeing.”

    He reiterated that the war is necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, although his own intelligence chief acknowledged last year that Tehran is not seeking one.

Trump urges other countries to ‘just take’ Strait of Hormuz

    Although the US started the war unilaterally, Trump has put the burden on other countries to reclaim the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively blocked by Iran.

    “Build up some delayed courage,” he said in a message to countries that import Gulf oil.

    “[They] should have done it before, should have done it with us, as we asked. Go to the strait and just take it, protect it.”

Trump vows to ‘finish job’, thanks Middle East allies

    “We are gonna finish the job. We are getting very close,” the US president says.

    “I want to thank our allies in the Middle East – Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and Bahrain. They’ve been great, and we will not let them fail in any way, shape, or form.”

Trump says people in US are ‘concerned’ about petrol prices

    The US president has acknowledged the economic pain that many in the US are feeling at the petrol pump, with gas prices increasing by more than 25 percent than before the war started.

    Trump suggested that the price hike is only temporary.

    “Many Americans have been concerned to see the recent rise in gasoline prices here at home,” he said.