US President Donald Trump delivered sharply contrasting messages on the trajectory of the Iran conflict within hours on Monday. In an interview with CBS News, he said the war was “pretty much” complete and progressing far faster than expected. But later, while addressing fellow Republicans at a party event in Washington, he struck a harder line, saying the United States had “not won enough” and that operations would continue until Iran was “totally and decisively defeated.”
At the Republican Members Issues Conference, Trump said the US had already achieved major gains but would press on. Earlier in the day, CBS News White House reporter Weijia Jiang quoted him as saying the conflict was “very far ahead of schedule,” adding that Iran’s military capacity had been severely degraded. Trump had previously estimated the war could last four to five weeks after it began on February 28.
The remarks prompted a sharp response from Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which said Tehran—not Washington—would determine how and when the war ends. Iranian state media quoted an IRGC spokesperson warning that Iran would block the export of “one litre of oil” from the region if US and Israeli attacks continued, signalling possible escalation targeting energy flows.
The conflict has effectively halted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint that carries about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. Tankers have been stranded for more than a week, forcing producers to slow or stop output as storage fills. The disruption has pushed global crude prices above $110 a barrel, briefly touching $119—the steepest surge since mid-2022—amid fears of prolonged supply constraints.
Trump warned Tehran that any attempt to disrupt oil transit through the strait would trigger overwhelming US retaliation, saying Iran would be hit “twenty times harder” than before. In a post on Truth Social, he said further escalation would bring consequences so severe that rebuilding the country would become “virtually impossible,” while adding he hoped such a scenario would not unfold.
Iran’s UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said US-Israeli strikes have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands more. In Lebanon—where Israel is conducting parallel operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah—authorities reported over 400 deaths and nearly 700,000 people displaced.
