Trump: US killed Iranian leadership in single-day operation

U.S. President Donald Trump told The Telegraph that American forces had eliminated Iran’s leadership in a single day, describing the achievement as ahead of schedule in operations initially planned to last four weeks.

“We always anticipated four weeks,” Trump said. “We also anticipated two to three weeks to take out some of the leadership, but we’ve taken out all of it in one day. So that was well ahead of schedule. We always viewed it as a four-week operation.”

Trump also expressed disappointment in UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer for blocking the use of the British-controlled Diego Garcia military base to carry out strikes on Iran. He suggested Starmer should have approved its use, saying Iran was responsible for killing “a lot of people from your country.” Trump added, “[There are] people without arms and legs and faces that have been blown up. Iran is 95 per cent of those. Those horrible events were caused by Iran.”

Trump also said on March 1 that Iran’s interim leaders were willing to enter ceasefire talks, noting that the operation could have been shortened if Tehran agreed to a nuclear deal.

By Sabina Mammadli