WASHINGTON — The president of the United States, Donald Trump, toughened his tone on the war in Iran, warning that “very soon” it will be known whether he ends the war in Iran “by hook or by crook,” amid growing electoral pressure less than a month before the legislative elections.
“We are doing extremely well in the Islamic Republic of Iran, very well. They have no army; it is destroyed,” declared the president at the beginning of an event with US military personnel in the port of Baltimore (Maryland).
“They were the bad guys, they were the bullies of the Middle East and they are not so bad anymore. But we have to end it. It’s just a question of how: do we want to do it by hook or by crook? And very soon they will know,” he added, with a military ship as a backdrop.
Trump is in full campaign for the mid-term elections on November 3, in which, according to polls, Republicans could lose control of Congress due to the unpopularity of the war in Iran and the rise in gasoline prices derived from the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The United States and Israel launched their offensive in February with the declared objective of destroying Iran’s nuclear program, considered a threat to the world and a sponsor of international terrorism.
Until now, the different rounds of negotiations to reach a nuclear agreement that would end the conflict have not borne fruit.
Who is in charge of Iran?
Trump stated this Tuesday that “no one knows who the hell is in charge of the country” since the US and Israeli offensive ended the life of the then supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on February 28, who was succeeded by his son Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since then.
The president, highly critical of the refusal of NATO allies to get involved in the war, maintained that action against Iran should have been taken a long time ago.
“But we’ve done a great job and, frankly, I get calls all the time from world leaders thanking me,” he said.
Trump, who has repeatedly declared that the war will end after the midterm elections, said during the recent UN General Assembly that he was considering the possibility of “wiping out” Iran.
