US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the United States is "nearing completion" of its objectives in the war against Iran and hailed American forces for scoring "overwhelming victories" in the conflict.

"Tonight, I'm pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion," Trump said in his first prime-time address since the start of the conflict in late February.

"In these past four weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield – victories like few people have ever seen before," he said.

He also warned that Washington will strike Iran "extremely hard" in the coming weeks.

"We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong," Trump said.

He notably did not commit to any timeline to end the war, and said the US would begin hitting energy and oil targets if it was deemed appropriate, even as he said the end was near.

The US leader, along with members of his administration, have cited many reasons for why the US joined Israel on February 28 in launching a war against Iran.

In his address, Trump again shifted his reasoning for the campaign, saying the military action is not for getting any of the country's vast resources, including oil, but instead to help America's allies.

“We're now totally independent of the Middle East, and yet we are there to help,” he said. “We don’t have to be there. We don’t need their oil. We don’t need anything they have.”

But, he added, “we're there to help our allies.”

At the same time, he called for countries that receive oil through the Strait of Hormuz to show "courage" and seize the key waterway, while saying Washington will not allow its Middle East allies to be harmed.

"The countries of the world that... receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage," Trump said. "Just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves."

Speaking in the Cross Hall at the White House, Trump said 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.”

Trump had earlier on Wednesday claimed that Iran's president wanted a ceasefire ahead of his speech to the American people. However, a spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry said Trump's remarks were “false and baseless.”

Oil prices surged after Trump's address to the nation did little to soothe investor worries over the closure of Strait of Hormuz.

Brent jumped more than four percent to as high as US$105.55, while West Texas Intermediate climbed three percent to hit US$103.16. Both contracts had been falling before the US president started his speech. (Agencies)



Edited by Cecil Wong