U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that it won’t last long if his country enters into war with Iran, while still voicing desire to avoid conflict.
“I hope we don’t,” Trump told Fox Business Network in an interview on Wednesday morning when asked if the United States was going to war, adding that he believes the United States is “in a very strong position if something should happen.”
“I’m not talking boots on the ground,” Trump noted. “I’m not talking, we’re going to send a million soldiers. I’m just saying if something would happen, it wouldn’t last very long.”
Tensions remain high between Washington and Tehran after the United States slapped sanctions on Monday targeting Iran’s supreme leader and some senior officials, days after the downing of a U.S. military surveillance drone by Iran.
The two sides have been trading barbs, with Trump threatening a tough military response in the event of any attack by Iran, and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani describing the White House as having a “mental handicap.”and denounced new sanctions against Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as “outrageous and idiotic.”
Ties between the United States and Iran have deteriorated significantly after Washington walked away from the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 and reimposed energy and financial sanctions, which had been removed under the deal on Iran.
Mr Trump said the only thing Iran understood was “strength and power, and the USA is by far the most powerful military force in the world”.
“Any attack by Iran on anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force,” Trump added in a tweet.
On Tuesday, Donald Trump lashed out at the “ignorant and insulting statement” released by Iran after the US president announced fresh sanctions against Iran.
The tweets came after Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said the move proved the White House was “mentally disabled”.
Trump unveiled the sanctions on Monday, saying they were a response to recent “aggressive behaviour” by Iran.
The sanctions target a number of individuals, notably Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who Mr Trump said was “ultimately responsible for the hostile conduct of the regime”.
While military analysts assess that the United States would beat Iran in an all-out clash, Tehran possesses ballistic and cruise missiles, air defenses and proxy forces that could kill U.S. troops.
Jim Stavridis, a retired admiral, said Iran also has “exceptionally strong” asymmetric warfare capability, in which a belligerent in a conflict stands up to an opponent with greater abilities
