Trump Says Iran War May End Soon While Warning of Stronger Strikes

US President Donald Trump says he expects the war against Iran to end “very soon”, describing the first phase of the conflict as a “short-term excursion” even as he warned that further escalation remains possible.

Speaking to reporters in Doral, Florida, Trump said the United States and Israel had carried out extensive strikes since the start of the war on February 28. The conflict began with attacks that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and have since targeted nuclear facilities, infrastructure and other sites across the country.

According to Trump, the joint campaign has already hit thousands of targets.

He said US and Israeli forces had struck roughly 5,000 targets during the opening 10 days of the war.

Trump’s remarks came as Iran’s political establishment rallied around the country’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late leader. His appointment was confirmed on Sunday while US and Israeli strikes continued against Iran’s military assets and infrastructure, including oil refineries and a desalination facility.

Despite suggesting the conflict could soon end, Trump also warned that Iran would face stronger attacks if it interfered with oil shipping in the Strait of Hormuz — a vital corridor for global energy supplies.

“I will not allow a terrorist regime to hold the world hostage and attempt to stop the globe’s oil supply. And if Iran does anything to do that, they’ll get hit at a much, much harder level,” the US president said.

The disruption around the strait has already pushed oil prices higher, with Brent crude briefly climbing above $119 a barrel during the latest round of tensions.

Trump said the United States was working to stabilize shipping in the Gulf, including providing political risk insurance for tankers and potentially escorting vessels through the region.

“We’ll perhaps go alongside them for protection,” he said.

The president also claimed that US and Israeli forces were continuing to target Iran’s weapons capabilities, particularly drone and missile systems.

“Starting today, we know all of the places they manufacture drones, and they’re being hit one after the another,” Trump said.

He added that Iran’s “missile capability” had been significantly degraded, estimating it was “down to about 10 percent, maybe less”.

Earlier in the day, Trump had addressed a gathering of Republican supporters at his golf club in Doral, describing the war as a limited operation while emphasizing that military pressure would continue.

“We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some people,” he said.

“We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough.”

Trump’s comments followed a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin that touched on both the Middle East conflict and the war in Ukraine.

According to Trump, Putin expressed interest in helping address the situation involving Iran.

“I said, ‘You could be more helpful by getting the Ukraine war over with. That will be more helpful.’ But we had a very good talk,” Trump said.

Moscow’s position on the Iranian leadership transition has diverged from Washington’s. Earlier on Monday, Putin congratulated Mojtaba Khamenei on succeeding his father and reaffirmed Russia’s support for Tehran.

Asked about Iran’s new supreme leader, Trump said he was unhappy with the choice.

“We ⁠think it’s going ⁠to lead to just more ⁠of the same problem ⁠for ⁠the country,” he said.

When reporters asked whether the new leader might become a military target, Trump declined to elaborate.

“It would be inappropriate” for him to say, he said.

Israel has stated separately that it would consider targeting any successor chosen to replace Ayatollah Khamenei.

Trump also returned to his long-standing argument that the war was necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

“They would’ve used it long before now, and at a minimum, Israel would have been annihilated,” he said.