Trump blurs US endgame in Iran: 'Nearing military objectives, will bring them to Stone Age'

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended the military campaign against Iran, claiming sweeping battlefield successes in a prime-time address that comes amid rising global tensions, volatile markets and growing domestic unease over the conflict.

Speaking from the White House, Trump said the US operation, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, has dealt devastating blows to Iran in just four weeks.

“As we speak this evening, it's been just one month since the United States military began Operation Epic Fury, targeting the world's number one state sponsor of terror, Iran,” Trump said. “Our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield — victories like few people have ever seen before.”

He asserted that Iran’s naval forces had been eliminated, its air force “in ruins,” and much of its leadership killed, while its missile and drone capabilities had been sharply reduced.

“Never in the history of warfare has an enemy suffered such clear and devastating large-scale losses in a matter of weeks,” Trump said.

In an ultimatum to Iran, Trump threatened to hit each and every Iranian “electric generating plant” if no deal is made.

Despite claiming that US military objectives was nearing its completion, the US president said Iran will be hit “extremely hard" over the next two to three weeks and will be brought to the "Stone Ages”.

“Thanks to the progress we've made, I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America's military objections shortly. Very shortly. We're going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We're going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong in the meantime, discussions are ongoing, regime change was not our goal. We never said regime change, but regime change has occurred because of all of their original leader's death,” Trump said.

“Yet, if during this period of time, no deal is made… if there is no deal, we are going to hit each, and every one of their electric generating plants very hard, and probably simultaneously,” he added.

Trump also framed the conflict as part of a long-standing effort to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, reiterating a pledge he said dates back to his first presidential campaign.

“From the very first day I announced my campaign for president in 2015, I vowed that I would never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” he said. “For such a regime to have nuclear weapons would be an intolerable threat.”

The president accused Iran of supporting attacks against Americans and its allies, referring to the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut and the attack on the USS Cole, as well as backing militant groups involved in violence against Israel. He also alleged that the Iranian government had killed tens of thousands of its own citizens during protests.

“The most violent and thuggish regime on Earth would be free to carry out its campaigns of terror, coercion, conquest, and mass murder from behind a nuclear shield,” Trump said. “I will never let that happen.”

The address, his first formal national speech since the US joined Israel in launching strikes more than a month ago, comes as oil prices surge and financial markets remain on edge over the risk of a prolonged war. It also follows opinion polls indicating many Americans believe the US military response may have gone too far.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump struck a combative tone on social media, warning Iran to stop blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil shipping route, or face further escalation.