Donald Trump, who has long been confused about the reasons for the war with Iran, has only vaguely described what he meant by his demand for the unconditional surrender of the ayatollah regime a week after the conflict began. At the same time, he left open the question of the possible deployment of US troops in Iran, but ruled out appealing to Kurdish forces to invade, writes The Guardian.
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“I said unconditionally. It's when they cry 'uncle', or when they can't fight anymore and there's no one to cry 'uncle' — that could happen too,” Trump said.
The lack of specificity in the US president's response has made it difficult to determine his political end goal in the conflict, a problem that haunts the White House as it faces mounting questions about what the US president wants from Iran and what role he will play in choosing the next leader of the Middle Eastern state.
Trump has been more consistent in his military goals, saying for days that he might send in American troops. But he has warned against using ground troops to protect Iran's nuclear facilities, which the United States bombed last year.
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“We haven't talked about it,” Trump said. “Maybe at some point we will. That would be great. Right now we're just destroying them. We didn't seek it, but it's something we could do later. We wouldn't do it now.”
The remarks came hours after Trump arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to join J.D. Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a memorial service for six U.S. service members killed in the early days of the war against Iran.
“No, we're going to win the war by a wide margin. We've destroyed their entire evil empire. I'm sure it's going to take a while, but I'm very proud of these people,” Trump said.
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He later added that the deaths were “part of the war.”
Meanwhile, intelligence has emerged indicating that China may intervene in the war, provide financial assistance to Tehran, and transfer spare parts and components for missiles.
Russia also stated that it supports Iran and demands a cessation of hostilities.
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