President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran’s ambitions to dominate the Middle East and destroy Israel are now “dead.”
He declared on Truth Social that the regime’s plans are crushed.
“Iran had plans of taking over the entire Middle East, and completely obliterating Israel,” Trump wrote. “Just like Iran itself, those plans are now dead.”
Axios reported Friday that Trump told fellow Group of Seven leaders in a recent call that Iran is “about to surrender,” reflecting the president’s confidence that the U.S.-Israel military campaign has decisively weakened the regime.
Trump’s post came about an hour after he wrote on Truth Social that the United States carried out strikes against “every military target” on Iran’s Kharg Island export hub, warning that the decision to spare the island’s crucial oil infrastructure could quickly change if Iran threatens shipping in the Persian Gulf.
Trump said U.S. forces struck military facilities on the island but deliberately avoided attacking the oil export terminals that underpin Iran’s energy economy.
“For reasons of decency, I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island,” Trump wrote.
Trump warned that any attempt by Iran to disrupt commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz would trigger a swift U.S. response.
During the G7 call Wednesday morning, Trump boasted about the results of Operation Epic Fury, Axios reported, telling allies, “I got rid of a cancer that was threatening us all.”
While claiming Iran was about to surrender, he also suggested there were no officials left alive in Tehran with the authority to make such a decision.
“Nobody knows who is the leader, so there is no one that can announce surrender,” Trump said, according to Axios, citing two officials briefed on the call.
The conflict with Iran has rattled global energy markets as tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial chokepoint for world oil shipments, have pushed crude prices above $100 a barrel and raised concerns among U.S. allies about economic fallout from the conflict.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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