WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Tuesday (March 31) that American forces will leave Iran within “two to three weeks,” signalling an end to ongoing attacks against Iran, Anadolu Ajansi reported.
“All I have to do is leave Iran, and we’ll be doing that very soon,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“We’ll be leaving very soon,” he said, adding that it will happen in “maybe two weeks, maybe three.”
He claimed the administration’s objective of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon has already been achieved, saying, “They will have no nuclear weapon. And that goal has been attained.”
Trump also argued that US strikes had severely degraded Iran’s military capabilities, asserting it could take “15 to 20 years” for Tehran to rebuild.
“We’ll be leaving very soon, and if France or some other country wants to get oil or gas, they’ll go up through the strait,” he said. “They’ll be able to fend for themselves. I think it’ll be very safe, actually, but we have nothing to do with that.”
The United States and Israel have been carrying out airstrikes on Iran since Feb 28, killing more than 1,340 people so far, according to Iranian authorities.
Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, as well as Jordan, Iraq and Gulf countries hosting US military assets.
At least 13 US service members have been killed since the war began, according to US official figures, and the conflict has driven up energy prices and affected shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil choke point through which a significant portion of the world’s oil shipments pass. – Bernama
