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The President of the United States, Donald Trump, delivered a strong message to Iran on Tuesday amid the military escalation in the Middle East: for Washington, the time for dialogue has passed.
Through a brief post on his platform Truth Social, the president stated that Tehran is attempting to open a negotiation channel following the attacks that began on Saturday, but he maintained that its military capabilities have been devastated.
“Their air defense, their Air Force, their Navy, and their leadership no longer exist. They want to talk. I said: ‘Too late!’”, he wrote.
The statement was made while sharing a favorable opinion piece about the offensive published in The Washington Post, thus reinforcing his stance that the joint operation with Israel has decisively weakened the Islamic Republic.
"Practically an unlimited supply" of weapons
Hours earlier, also on Truth Social, Trump had praised the military might of the United States and his country's ability to supply weapons in the context of the conflict.
"United States ammunition reserves, in the mid to upper range, have never been so high or so good. According to what I've been informed, we practically have an unlimited supply of these weapons," he stated.
The president added that "wars can be fought forever, and successfully, using only these supplies (which are better than the best weapons from other countries!)."
However, he pointed out that the "highest level" reserves are not yet where he wants them to be and blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden, for sending armaments to Ukraine without replenishing them.
"Sleepy Joe spent all his time, and the money of our country, giving everything to Zelensky of Ukraine worth hundreds of billions of dollars […] And while he fixed a large part of the high-end weapons (for free), he didn't bother to replace them," he questioned.
Trump claimed to have “rebuilt” the military during his first term and stated that the United States is currently “well supplied, and ready to win, big.”
An offensive that "has not started to hit hard."
In previous statements, the president warned that the operation—identified as "Epic Fury"—could escalate in the coming days. “We haven’t even started to hit them hard yet. The big wave hasn’t happened yet. The big stuff is coming soon,” he stated.
According to Trump, the military campaign could extend beyond the four or five weeks initially anticipated. "I always thought it would last four weeks. Now we’re a bit ahead, but we have the capacity to go far beyond that," he noted.
He also stated that the Iranian chain of command is disorganized after the targeted attacks. "They themselves do not know who is leading them now. We eliminated 49 of their leaders. We don't know who is in charge," he declared.
The joint operation with Israel is said to have resulted in the death of the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as hundreds of others, according to reports circulated in the context of the conflict.
Iranian response and regional escalation
From Tehran, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Lariyani, denied that his country intends to negotiate and rejected claims that it was preparing attacks against the United States. He also questioned whether the U.S. offensive could be justified as a "preventive" move.
Meanwhile, Iran has responded with airstrikes against Israel and against countries in the region that house U.S. military bases, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
At least six U.S. military personnel have died since the beginning of the operation, in a situation that has forced Washington to close its embassies in Kuwait and temporarily in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, the U.S. government has urged its citizens to leave 14 countries in the Middle East, including Israel, Lebanon, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, and Yemen.
Despite mounting international pressure and the risk of a larger regional conflagration, Trump insists that the offensive will continue until the Iranian missile program, navy, and nuclear capabilities are completely destroyed. And, according to his own message, if Tehran wants to talk now, for Washington it is already "too late."
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