Iran-US war: Tehran rejects ceasefire claims after Trump says president had requested – The Independent

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The president said U.S. forces would ‘finish the job’ in Iran and that ‘core strategic objectives are nearing completion’
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Donald Trump used his primetime address to the nation to announce that the war in Iran, which has now lasted over a month, is winding down – as a new poll shows the president’s approval ratings continue to drop.
In his remarks Wednesday night, the president said that all of America’s military objectives had been met, while rehashing many of his previous talking points about the conflict.
“Tonight, I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” he said, though offered no further information on what the objectives had been.
“As we celebrate this progress, we think especially of the thirteen American warriors who have laid down their lives in this fight to prevent our children from ever having to face a nuclear Iran. We salute them, and now we must honor them by completing the mission for which they gave their lives.”
It comes after a new poll by CNN and SSRS found just one third of Americans approve of the ongoing military action in the Middle East, with 67 percent saying they don’t believe Trump has a clear plan for handling the situation.
Earlier Wednesday, in a letter addressed to the American people, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that his country has no hatred for ordinary Americans.
Barack Obama’s former speech writer Jon Favreau blasted the rambling and self-aggrandizing nature of Donald Trump’s remarks Wednesday night.
“I’m actually quite glad that primetime viewers are being exposed to the insane Truth Social rants the rest of us have been reading,” referring to the president’s frequent posts on his social media website, that often boast of his own achievements.
In his address to the nation Wednesday night, Donald Trump said his “first preference” to resolve the Iran war had been a diplomatic solution.
“I did what no other president was willing to do. They made mistakes, and I am correcting them,” he said.
“My first preference was always the path of diplomacy. Yet the regime continued their relentless quest for nuclear weapons and rejected every attempt at an agreement. For this reason, in June, I ordered a strike on Iran’s key nuclear facilities and Operation Midnight Hammer.
“Nobody has ever seen anything like it.”
Donald Trump has announced that the end of U.S. military operations in Iran was “very close,” claiming that the families of dead service members had told him to “finish the job.”
“Tonight, I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” he said.
“As we celebrate this progress, we think especially of the 13 American warriors who have laid down their lives in this fight to prevent our children from ever having to face a nuclear Iran.
“We salute them, and now we must honor them by completing the mission for which they gave their lives. And every single one of the people, their loved one said, ‘please, sir, please finish the job, every one of them.
“And we are going to finish the job. And we’re going to finish it very fast. We’re getting very close.”
In his address to the nation Wednesday night Donald Trump declared that America was now “winning bigger than ever.”
“Never in the history of warfare has an enemy suffered such clear and devastating, large scale losses in a matter of weeks,” he said.
“Our enemies are losing in America, as it has been for five years under my presidency, is winning and now winning bigger than ever before.”
The president continued to boast of his achievements, while blasting his predecessors.
“They made mistakes, and I am correcting them,” he said.
Donald Trump appeared to slur some of his words as he began his remarks to the nation.
Donald Trump kicked off his address by declaring the U.S. had won victories in Iran “like few people have ever seen before.”
“In these past four weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield, victories like few people have ever seen before,” the president said in his remarks broadcast from the White House.
“Tonight, Iran’s Navy is gone. Their Air Force is in ruins. Their leaders, most of them terrorist regime they led, are now dead.”
The Pentagon may have violated its own rules of war by moving troops from U.S. bases, targeted by Iran, to hotels and other civilian locations in the Middle East region, the New York Times reported.
Ariana Baio has the full story:
Steve Bannon has said that Donald Trump will be using his 9 p.m. address to the nation to “declare victory” in Iran.
Bannon, the president’s former White House chief strategist, said that Trump will announce what he plans to do while U.S. forces remain in Iran as well as “dumping on the NATO allies,” Politico reported.
“Two, three weeks, definable objectives. ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’ — and we are hanging around a couple of weeks to conquer some more — maybe even then a ceasefire, while reiterating that the Hormuz situation is the Gulf Emirates’ and the Europeans’ to solve, and declare victory,” Bannon said.
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