Trump Declares Iran War Goals 'Close to Completion' Amid Ongoing Military Actions

Thu Apr 02 2026 04:39:32 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

In a recent address, President Donald Trump announced significant progress in the Iran war, promising escalated military action and called on allies to secure global shipping routes.

In a televised speech, President Donald Trump stated that the U.S. military is nearing the completion of its objectives in the Iran war. He vowed to intensify attacks on Iranian infrastructure over the next few weeks while urging allies to seize the Strait of Hormuz. His speech comes amid rising domestic pressures, including soaring gas prices and forthcoming midterm elections. The global oil market reacted negatively to his address, indicating continued disruption in the region.

President Donald Trump has told the nation in a televised speech that the US military has nearly completed its goals in the Iran war.

He vowed to strike Iran extremely hard over the next two to three weeks and finish the job very fast, without setting any timeline for ending the conflict.

In his primetime address, Trump called for countries that receive oil through the Strait of Hormuz to show courage and seize the key waterway, which has been effectively closed by Iranian attacks since the conflict began.

The president is grappling with rocketing gas prices and sliding personal popularity ratings as the war continues into its fifth week and US midterm elections loom in November.

Wednesday night's speech did little immediately to reassure global oil markets that disruption to the Strait of Hormuz shipping route will ease anytime soon.

The price of benchmark Brent crude was trading at about $100 a barrel before the president started speaking. Afterwards it rose to $105.

In the 20-minute speech from the White House, Trump said the US was nearing completion of its core strategic objectives in the conflict, and had decimated Iran's navy drone and ballistic missile forces.

However, he provided little insight into the state of what he described as ongoing discussions with Iran's leadership, leaving open the possibility of hitting Iranian energy infrastructure if negotiations prove fruitless.

Trump made no specific mention of the future of the Nato alliance, after earlier telling the British newspaper the Telegraph that he'd reconsider the US role in what he described as a paper tiger.

The president's political opponents were quick to criticise his speech. New York Democrat and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer described the address as rambling, disjointed and pathetic.

According to an update by US Central Command on Wednesday, American forces have struck more than 12,300 targets across Iran since Operation Epic Fury began, including Iranian naval vessels and facilities, missile launchers and defence manufacturing plants.