“We estimate that it will last more or less four weeks. It is a large country and, no matter how intense the operation is, it will last around four weeks… or even less,” he said in statements to the British newspaper Daily Mail, where he noted that from the beginning they have contemplated that period of time.
This same Sunday, in another interview with the American network CNBC, the Republican leader had indicated that the operation, baptized as “Epic Fury”, is going faster than expected.
In the Daily Mail he added that it is developing without surprises, although better than expected. The Iranian supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and “about 48” members of his leadership were killed in the bombings this Saturday.
The United States and Israel began a series of joint attacks against Iran on Saturday, in which the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in power since 1989, and a good part of the military leadership of the Islamic Republic were assassinated.
“I think it’s going according to plan, beyond the fact that we eliminated all their leaders, much more than we thought,” he said.
Trump stated that Iran’s entire military command “has disappeared” after the joint operation with Israel launched against Iran and that many of them “want immunity.”
“The entire military command has also disappeared, and many of them want to surrender to save their lives. They want immunity,” Trump said in a video posted on his Truth Social social network.
Trump will avenge deaths of US soldiers
Three US soldiers have died in Iranian retaliatory attacks. “Unfortunately, it is something that we hope could happen,” he said, making it clear that there may be American casualties again.
Five other US soldiers were seriously injured in the operation against Iran, the US military command for the Middle East (Centcom) announced on Sunday.
In a statement, Centcom did not provide details on how the deaths occurred or specify the location, after Iran attacked several US bases in the Middle East in retaliation for the joint attack by the United States and Israel in which the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, died.
“Three U.S. service members were killed in action and five were seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury,” as of March 1.
Trump promised on Sunday to “avenge” the three US military casualties in the war with Iran, while threatening to kill the Revolutionary Guards if they do not “lay down their weapons.”.
“Sadly, there will be more before (the war) is over,” Trump said in a video about the deaths of American soldiers. “But the United States will avenge their deaths and deal the most devastating blow to terrorists waging war, basically, against civilization.”
“I once again urge the Revolutionary Guards, the Iranian army and the police to lay down their weapons and receive complete immunity or face certain death,” he added.
“We mourn the loss of true American patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, as we continue the just mission for which they gave their lives,” he declared in a video from his private residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, posted on his Truth Social account.
The Republican added that “unfortunately, it is likely that there will be more” before the end of Operation Epic Fury, which began on Saturday and which according to the US president himself could last four weeks.
However, he promised that he will do everything possible to avoid new casualties and assured that the United States “will avenge their deaths and deal the hardest blow to the terrorists” responsible.
Iran has promised to avenge Khamenei’s death and, so far, has attacked Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, among other allies of the United States, where the country maintains military bases.
Trump urges guard to surrender
Trump this Sunday urged the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to surrender in exchange for immunity or else he will face certain death.
“I urge the Revolutionary Guard, the Iranian military police, to lay down their arms and receive full immunity or face certain death. It will be certain,” Trump declared in a statement posted in a video on his partner network, Truth Social.
More than a thousand objectives
In the first 24 hours of Operation Epic Fury against Iran, which has resulted in the life of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the United States hit more than 1,000 Iranian targets, although it regretted the death of three American soldiers.
According to the Central Command of the United States Army (Centcom), US forces managed to hit more than a thousand Iranian targets in the first hours of the operation ordered by US President Donald Trump in the early hours of this Saturday.
Operation Epic Fury, the name with which the Pentagon baptized the joint operation with Israel, seeks to “dismantle the security apparatus of the Iranian regime, giving priority to places that pose an imminent threat,” according to the command.
The attacks are concentrated on command centers and headquarters, as well as missile bases and equipment of the Iranian Navy.
For this offensive, US forces used a combination of ship-launched cruise missiles and fighter jets, as well as armed drones and classified “special capabilities” that Centcom did not publicly detail.
The first hours of the operation were marked, without a doubt, by the death of the ayatollah, advanced by Trump and confirmed hours later by Iranian public television.
In addition to the leader, the operation also killed a large part of the Iranian military leadership.
The bombing continued on Sunday with several waves of attacks on Tehran. Iran, for its part, has responded with attacks against Israel, in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and other countries in the area such as the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, where the US has military bases.
