President Donald Trump said Monday that Operation Epic Fury, the major joint military offensive by the U.S. and Israel against Iran, was moving “ahead of schedule: against its targets.
“We have the strongest and most powerful, by far, military in the world, and we will easily prevail,” Trump said during a Medal of Honor ceremony on Monday. “We’re already substantially ahead of our time projections.”
“Whatever the time is, it’s okay. Whatever it takes … we have from right, from the beginning, we projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that. We’ll do it,” Trump also said about the projected length of the operation.
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Trump’s comments were the first time he spoke publicly about Operation Epic Fury since it began early Saturday. The offensive led to the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials.
The president pushed back against media claims that he would eventually become “bored” with the operation.
“If I got bored, I wouldn’t be standing here right now. I guarantee you that,” Trump said. “… We also projected four weeks to terminate the military leadership, and as you know, that was done in about an hour. So we’re ahead of schedule there by a lot.”
Trump also outlined four “objectives” about the strikes on Iran, which include destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, “annihilating” its navy, preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and stopping it from arming terrorist groups around the country.
Hours before Trump spoke, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Pentagon is sending more firepower to the Middle East.
At least four U.S. troops have died so far in the campaign, according to U.S. Central Command. Trump paid his condolences to the fallen during the Medal of Honor ceremony.
“Today, we grieve for the four heroic American service members who have been killed in action, and send our love and support to their families,” Trump said.
The four fallen service members have not yet been identified.