Trump claims Iran's first- and second-string leaders are gone, questions who US is negotiating with

Speaking at a midterm campaign rally in Montana, Trump said Iran’s military capabilities had been severely weakened and declared that the country was no longer “the bully of the Middle East”.

US President Donald Trump claimed that Iran’s first- and second-tier leaders had been eliminated in American military strikes, questioning who Washington was negotiating with as he predicted that the conflict would end “very, very soon”.

Speaking at a midterm campaign rally in Montana late Wednesday night, , according to Fox News, Trump said Iran’s military capabilities had been severely weakened and declared that the country was no longer “the bully of the Middle East”. He also predicted that oil prices would fall sharply once the fighting ended.

“They don't have a Navy; they don't have an air force; their army is decimated; their leaders are gone,” Trump said, as per the news outlet, claiming that Iran had lost leaders across multiple levels of its hierarchy.

“I should have probably left the leaders because I don't know who we're negotiating with,” he added.

Trump mocks Iran’s alleged negotiating position

Trump claimed that Iran’s first-string and second-string leaders were gone, along with half of its third-string leadership. He then mocked what he portrayed as Tehran’s position in negotiations.

“And now their main thing that they ask in negotiation is, ‘Will you please allow us to live?’” Trump said.

“This is all they do. They don't want us to go after them,” he added.

Trump did not provide independent evidence during the rally to substantiate his claims about the extent of the damage to Iran’s leadership or military capabilities.

‘Iran is no longer the bully of the Middle East’

Trump reiterated that US military action had significantly weakened Iran, saying the country was no longer as powerful as it had been before the strikes.

“They were strong, now they’re not so strong,” he said.

The President also argued that previous US administrations should have confronted Iran much earlier, describing the campaign as a long-overdue effort to counter Tehran’s regional influence.

“This should have been done by other presidents a long time ago. It's gone on for 51 years,” Trump said.

Trump says Iran war will end ‘very, very soon’

Trump predicted that the conflict would end soon, warning that it would conclude “one way or the other”.

“But it's going to end and it's going to end very, very soon,” he said.

He also claimed that Iran had no fighter jets available for use, alleging that its aircraft had been destroyed during the military campaign.

“How many jet fighters are available for use today? Zero,” Trump said. “They're all scattered in little tiny pieces all over the runways and it's all gone.”

‘Oil is going to drop like a rock’

Trump defended the military campaign despite the potential impact of the conflict on energy prices, arguing that preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons remained the priority.

“It's all about we're not going to let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” he said.

The president predicted that oil prices would decline sharply once hostilities ended, presenting any temporary increase in energy costs as a price worth paying to achieve that objective.

“When that happens, the oil is going to drop like a rock,” Trump said.

He also told the crowd that prices had already fallen. “Your prices have come way down,” he said.

Trump closed by saying he was “trying to be nice” but reiterated that the conflict would end “very quickly one way or the other”, linking its conclusion to his prediction of lower oil prices.