Washington, March 16 (IANS) US President Donald Trump on Monday said American forces had dealt a devastating blow to Iran’s military capabilities and called on major global economies to help safeguard the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy route through which much of the world’s oil flows.
Speaking at the White House during a meeting with board members of the Trump-Kennedy Centre, Trump said the US military campaign against Iran had intensified in recent days.
“Our powerful military campaign to end the threats posed by the Iranian regime continued in full force over the past few days,” Trump said.
He claimed the operation had severely weakened Iran’s armed forces.
“They have been literally obliterated,” Trump said. “The Air Force is gone, the Navy is gone. Many, many ships have been sunk.”
Trump said the United States had carried out a sweeping series of strikes since the conflict began.
“Since the beginning of the conflict, we’ve struck more than 7,000 targets across Iran,” he said, adding that the targets included “mostly commercial and military targets.”
According to the President, the strikes have sharply reduced Iran’s missile and drone attacks.
“We’ve achieved a 90 per cent reduction in their ballistic missile launches and a 95 per cent reduction in drone attacks,” Trump said.
He added that US forces had targeted facilities linked to Iran’s weapons production.
“We’ve also attacked the manufacturing plants where they manufacture the missiles and the drones,” he said.
Trump also claimed significant damage to Iran’s naval capabilities.
“More than 100 Iranian naval vessels have been sunk or destroyed over the last week and a half,” he said.
He said that US forces had also focused on eliminating ships capable of laying naval mines that could threaten global shipping.
“We’re hammering their capacity to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, with more than 30 mine-laying ships destroyed,” Trump said.
Despite the US military campaign, Trump argued that countries whose economies rely heavily on the Strait of Hormuz should contribute more to securing the vital shipping lane.
“We strongly encourage other nations whose economies depend on the strait far more than ours,” he said.
The President noted that the United States imports very little oil through the narrow waterway compared with other major economies.
“You know, we get less than one per cent of our oil from the strait,” Trump said. “Japan gets 95 per cent. China gets 90 per cent. Many of the Europeans get quite a bit. South Korea gets 35 per cent.”
“So we want them to come and help us with the strait,” he said.
Trump suggested that some long-time US security partners had shown reluctance to contribute despite American military commitments to their defence.
“We have some countries where we have 45,000 soldiers protecting them from harm’s way,” he said.
“And when we want to know, do you have any minesweepers, well, we’d rather not get involved, sir.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt earlier told reporters that many countries were benefiting from the US military campaign targeting Iran’s capabilities.
“These other countries are benefiting greatly from the United States military taking out the threat of Iran,” she said.
Leavitt said Iran had posed threats not only to the United States but also to partners across the Middle East and Western allies.
“The rogue Iranian regime has long not just posed a threat to the United States of America, but of course to our Gulf and Arab partners in the region,” she said.
She added that Iran’s missile capabilities also threatened European allies and US bases in the region.
“The ballistic missile capability that the United States military is currently wiping out was a direct and imminent threat to our European allies as well as our bases in the region,” Leavitt said.
The Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran and Oman, is one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, carrying roughly a fifth of global oil shipments.
Tensions around the narrow waterway have frequently escalated during conflicts involving Iran, with disruptions raising concerns about global energy prices and international trade.
–IANS
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