Trump says US struck Iran over nukes

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said the United States carried out military action against Iran to stop it from acquiring nuclear weapons, claiming the operation had significantly weakened Tehran’s military capabilities.

“They can’t have a nuclear weapon, and they now understand that very strongly,” Trump said during remarks at the White House on Saint Patrick’s Day.

He said the US moved after concluding that Iran was close to developing such weapons. “We thought we had to do something about very bad people who want to have nuclear weapons. We can’t allow that,” he said.

Trump described the action as recent and decisive. “We took a little bit of a journey, a little bit of an excursion over the last two weeks,” he said, adding that the US is now “way ahead of schedule”.

He claimed the strikes caused widespread damage to Iran’s military infrastructure. “We knocked out their navy, their air force, their anti-aircraft equipment, their radar, and their leaders,” Trump said.