Washington, October 1, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
US President Donald Trump has claimed that Iran’s military capabilities have been severely degraded and said the United States would win its ongoing war with Tehran “very quickly”, while asserting that Washington has “virtually total control” over the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.
Trump made the remarks during a White House event marking National Hispanic Heritage Month, where he discussed US military operations in Iran, Iraq and Venezuela before turning to the theme of the celebration.
“Likewise in Iran, we have been there for six months with 18 killed. By the way, one is too many. But they lost 4,500. We lost 18,” Trump said.
He claimed that Iran had suffered extensive military and economic damage.
“But we have a nation that’s been virtually destroyed. Their economy is no good. They have 300 per cent-plus inflation,” Trump said.
“Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone. Their anti-aircraft equipment is gone.”
Trump also claimed that the US had established near-total control over the Strait of Hormuz, while acknowledging that Iranian mines had occasionally disrupted movement through the waterway.
“The last week in the Hormuz Strait, which we have almost total control — I would say total, but every once in a while they’ll drop a mine in there and disrupt things a little bit, but we have virtually total control of the Hormuz Strait,” he said.
The White House has previously made similar claims about US control of the Strait, saying American forces had cleared Iranian mines and enabled commercial vessels to transit under US protection.
Trump further claimed that oil shipments through the Strait had reached their highest level ever during the previous three days, but did not provide figures to substantiate the assertion.
“And in fact, in the last three days more oil has come out of the Hormuz Strait than at any time in the history of the Hormuz Strait,” he said.
Trump suggested that the conflict could soon reach a decisive stage but did not provide details of the US actions that could follow.
“We have another one where we’re six months in. And we have — you know, their military is totally wiped out. And we’re going to have that war won very quickly, one way or the other,” he said.
His comments came as diplomatic contacts between Washington and Tehran continued through mediators. Iran received a US response on September 30 to a proposal aimed at easing tensions and restoring maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, although the two sides remained apart on the sequencing of proposed steps.
Trump’s remarks on Iran followed comments about the end of the US military presence in Iraq. He announced that the last American forces were leaving Iraq, describing it as the conclusion of 23 years of US military involvement there.
“We came to fight a caliphate; and there is no longer a caliphate, so we are going home indeed,” Trump said.
He said more than 4,500 US military personnel had been killed during the Iraq conflict and more than 31,000 injured, contrasting those figures with the casualties he cited from the conflict with Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea and is a major route for oil and liquefied natural gas shipments from Gulf producers to international markets.
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