MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trump says US will leave Iran in “two or three weeks,” claims regime change achieved

“We're finishing the job. I think within maybe two weeks, maybe a couple of days longer,” Trump told reporters

President Donald Trump said Tuesday from the Oval Office that U.S. forces will withdraw from Iran “in two or three weeks,” asserting that the military campaign has achieved its core objectives.

“We're finishing the job. I think within maybe two weeks, maybe a couple of days longer,” Trump told reporters during an executive order signing. He said the operation, launched on February 28 alongside Israel, produced a regime change in Tehran and that Washington is now dealing with leaders who are “more reasonable and less radicalized.”

The conflict is now in its fifth week — day 32 — and Trump's remarks represent his clearest signal yet that he intends to wind down the war. The administration had initially projected a four-to-six-week campaign.

Trump indicated that a deal with Iran is not a prerequisite for withdrawal. “They don't have to make a deal with me,” he said. “But they want to make a deal more than I want to.” He claimed it would take Iran “15 to 20 years to rebuild what we destroyed” and said overnight strikes had hit missile manufacturing facilities linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

However, the president acknowledged he has no plans to eliminate Iran's stocks of highly enriched uranium. “It's so deeply buried that it would be very difficult for anyone,” he told CBS News. Although preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons was the stated goal of the offensive, Trump conceded that destroying those materials is not necessarily a requirement for declaring victory.

In a shift from previous positions, Trump said the United States will not intervene to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, effectively closed since hostilities began. “France, China, and other countries can figure it out for themselves,” he said.

From Tehran, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi offered a starkly different assessment. Speaking to Al Jazeera, he said Iran has not responded to the 15-point proposal presented by Washington and that message exchanges with special envoy Steve Witkoff do not constitute negotiations. “We have no faith that negotiating with the United States will yield any results. The trust level is zero,” he said, recalling that Iran was attacked twice during diplomatic talks, including the February 28 offensive.

Araqchi stressed that Tehran is not seeking a temporary ceasefire but rather a complete end to the war, with guarantees against future aggression and compensation for damages. He also warned that Iranian forces are “fully prepared to confront any type of ground attack.”

Hours after Trump's remarks, the White House announced that the president will deliver an address to the nation Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET to provide an update on Iran.