Trump speaks of shoes on the bottom in Iran, hours after US defence secy Hegseth says ‘it is not Iraq’
US President Donald Trump on Monday stated he wouldn’t rule out sending floor troops into Iran if essential. “Like each president says, ‘There will likely be no boots on the bottom.’ I do not say it,” Trump advised the New York Submit in one in every of a number of transient interviews on Monday.
US President Donald Trump steps off Air Drive One upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews on March 1, on his approach again to Washington, DC after spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort whereas American and Israeli forces attacked Iran. (AFP Picture)
“I say ‘in all probability do not want them’, ‘in the event that they had been essential’,” he additional stated, information company AFP reported.
Stay: Updates on the US-Iran battle
He talked about a “massive wave” as he additionally spoke to CNN. “We have not even began hitting them exhausting. The massive wave hasn’t even occurred. The massive one is coming quickly,” Trump stated, including that Washington didn’t know who the nation’s new chief could be following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“We do not know who the management is. We do not know who they will choose,” he stated.
Many senior US officers stay uncertain if the navy operation in opposition to the Islamic Republic may result in a regime change within the close to time period, Reuters has reported. Iran will not be like Venezuela, from the place President Nicolas Maduro was taken away by US navy and an interim chief took over from inside the regime with obvious US backing, they’ve reportedly stated.
Trump’s phrases about not ruling out a floor operation got here simply hours after US defence secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday addressed issues that the US-Israeli strikes in Iran may spiral right into a stretched regional battle.
“This isn’t Iraq. This isn’t countless,” Hegseth stated, referring to the 2003 invasion of Saddam Hussein-led Iraq by the US.
Hegseth, together with US Air Drive Basic Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Employees, held the Trump administration’s first information briefing since Saturday’s strikes.
President Donald Trump, whereas he is carried out just a few telephone interviews with particular person reporters, has not taken questions on digicam and solely launched two movies because the operation started.
Hegseth stated the operation had a “clear, devastating, decisive mission” to “destroy the missile menace” from Iran, destroy its navy and “no nukes”.
“No silly guidelines of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy-building train, no politically right wars. We struggle to win, and we do not waste time or lives,” Hegseth stated.
Requested if there are at the moment boots on the bottom in Iran, Hegseth stated, “No, however we’re not going to enter the train of what we are going to or won’t do.”
He stated it was “foolishness” to anticipate US officers to say publicly how far they will go.
He additionally recommended the US was not in search of to alter the Iranian regime with the killing of Iranian Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “This isn’t a so-called regime change battle, however the regime positive did change and the world is best off for it,” Hegseth stated.
The briefing comes because the battle has intensified right into a wider battle within the area. Iran and its allied armed teams have launched missiles at Israel, Arab states and US navy targets within the Center East.
4 American troops have been killed in motion, whereas ther have been over 500 demise in Iran, Purple Crescant says.
Trump on Sunday predicted there could be extra US casualties.
In the meantime, US ally Kuwait “mistakenly shot down” three American fighter jets throughout a fight mission as Iranian plane, ballistic missiles and drones had been attacking on Monday. US Central Command stated all six pilots ejected safely from the American F-15E Strike Eagles and had been in steady situation.
US officers haven’t provided any exit plan or provided indicators that the battle would finish anytime quickly, and Khamenei’s demise forged doubt on the way forward for the Islamic Republic and hurtled the area into broader instability.
Hegseth didn’t level to any menace of an imminent nuclear menace from Iran, and he stated once more that final June’s strikes by the US and Israel “obliterated their nuclear program to rubble”.
As a substitute, Hegseth pointed to threats from different weaponry. “Iran was constructing highly effective missiles and drones to create a traditional defend for his or her nuclear blackmail ambitions,” Hegseth stated.
He stated that in negotiations with US officers main as much as the assault, Iranian officers had been “stalling”.
Hegseth dismissed questions on a timeframe and stated, “President Trump has all of the latitude on the earth to speak about how lengthy it could or could not take. 4 weeks, two weeks, six weeks. It may transfer up. It may transfer again.”
(with inputs from AP)
