U.S. President Donald Trump said late Thursday sending ground troops into Iran would be “a waste of time” because the Islamic Republic had already “lost everything.”
Trump made the remarks in a telephone interview with NBC News, responding to comments by Iran’s foreign minister that the country was prepared to confront any ground attack.
“It’s a waste of time,” Trump said. “They’ve lost everything. They’ve lost their navy. They’ve lost everything they can lose.”
Trump also said he hoped Iran would have “a good leader” in the future, following a report by U.S. news outlet Axios that cited sources as saying the U.S. president wanted to play a role in selecting Iran’s next leader.
“We don’t want someone who will rebuild everything again in ten years,” Trump said. He added that he had several names in mind but declined to disclose them.
In a separate interview with NBC, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was “confident” Iran’s army could repel any ground invasion.
“We are waiting for them,” he said. “Because we are confident that we can confront them, and that would be a big disaster for them.”
U.S. and Israeli Operations Against Iran
Earlier Thursday, U.S. Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said more than 30 Iranian warships had been sunk or destroyed since the United States launched Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28.
The vessels reportedly included the Shahid Soleimani-class IRIS Shahid Sayyad Shirazi and the frigate IRIS Dena off the coast of Sri Lanka. Cooper said at least 87 sailors were killed in the latter operation.
He added that B-2 bombers had dropped dozens of 2,000-pound bombs on underground ballistic missile launchers and that U.S. forces had also struck facilities linked to Iran’s missile and space programs.
“The U.S. military is in the process of dismantling Iran’s missile production capability for the future,” Cooper said. “We’re not just hitting what they have. We’re destroying their ability to rebuild.”
Israel’s military also launched what it described as “a broad-scale wave of strikes” against targets in Tehran and Beirut, while clashes were reported between Israeli ground forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon.
Iran earlier launched drones and missiles toward several countries in the Gulf region, including Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs said the number of people killed in attacks by the United States and Israel had reached 1,230.
According to Iran’s state news agency, the foundation said the death toll from the strikes had reached that figure as of March 5.
The statement did not provide details on how many of the victims were civilians or members of the security forces.