White House Says Iran War Is Virtually Complete: "No Need for Formal Surrender"

[Financial News]


US President Donald Trump is moving to formalize an exit strategy from the war with Iran.
On the 10th (local time), White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the war with Iran has "entered a virtually completed phase."
Her remarks went a step further than Trump’s comment the previous day that the war could end earlier than initially planned. It appears the administration has begun shaping the atmosphere for an early declaration of the end of the war.

In the briefing, Leavitt said, "The United States has severely degraded Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal and nuclear program, and the threats it posed to our allies Israel and countries in the Gulf region have now been dramatically reduced," adding, "This operation has entered a virtually completed phase."
She continued, "The president’s objective is clear: unconditional capitulation, or at a minimum, neutralizing Iran to the point where it can no longer threaten the United States." Leavitt added, "We have no intention of dragging out this war needlessly, and we will complete the mission as soon as US interests are secured," suggesting that Washington will soon declare the mission accomplished and bring the war to an end.
Earlier, Trump said, "Iran has no navy, no communications network, no air force. From a military standpoint, there is essentially nothing left," claiming that "we have achieved virtually all of our objectives." He also said the war with Iran would end "very soon."

Leavitt also offered additional clarification on Trump’s remarks.
Regarding "unconditional surrender," she said, "The moment the president determines that Iran no longer poses a threat to the United States is the moment of Iran’s de facto surrender," adding, "It does not matter whether Iran’s leadership acknowledges that or not."
In other words, once Iran is weakened to the point that it can no longer threaten the United States, Washington will treat that situation as unconditional surrender and end the war, even without a formal surrender declaration.
Leavitt stated, "Surrender is not a matter of signing a document; it is a condition," and added, "We are not waiting for Tehran’s approval. When the president, as commander in chief, judges that Iran’s capacity to attack has fallen to zero, he will regard that as victory and surrender."
Leavitt noted that although the president has said the war could end soon, in practical terms it may still take four to six weeks to complete the remaining military tasks.

dympna@fnnews.com Song Kyung-jae Reporter