Washington, Apr 2 (AP) US President Donald Trump’s prime-time address at 9 pm EDT offers an update on the progress made toward achieving his goals in the war with Iran, which are to destroy the country’s missile production and Navy, ensure its proxies can no longer destabilise the region and guarantee Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. Speaking in the Cross Hall at the White House, Trump said Wednesday night that Operation Epic Fury’s actions over the past month meant that Iran’s “ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed, and their weapons factories and rocket launchers are being blown to pieces.” Trump also said that the country’s “navy is gone, their air force is in ruins,” and the country’s leaders, “are now dead.” He also said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “is being decimated as we speak.” This is Trump’s first prime-time speech since launching strikes alongside Israel more than a month ago.

With the speech, Trump is getting a wide audience to articulate clear objectives for the war that could attempt to reconcile weeks of changing goals and often contradictory messages about whether he’s winding down or ready to escalate military operations — even as Iran kept up its attacks on Israel and Persian Gulf neighbors and airstrikes pounded Tehran.

“In these past four weeks our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield,” Trump said. (AP) ARB ARB