President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in separate interviews over the weekend, made it clear that the war in Iran is not over. <\/p>\n
The Trump administration formally declared Operation Epic Fury \u201cterminated\u201d and submitted official notification of its end to Congress on May 1. But the president cautioned that this procedural conclusion didn\u2019t mean a definitive cessation to all military actions.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I didn\u2019t say that,\u201d Trump insisted during an interview with \u201cFull Measure\u201d<\/a> when asked if combat operations are over. He emphasized that while Iran had been \u201cdefeated,\u201d this did not mean that U.S. operations \u201care done.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump estimated that roughly 70% of America\u2019s targets inside the Islamic Republic had been hit.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could go in for two more weeks and do every single target,\u201d he mused. \u201cWe have other targets that we could conceivably hit. But even if we didn\u2019t do that, that would just be final touches. Even if we didn\u2019t do that, it would take them many years to rebuild.\u201d <\/p>\n Speaking with reporters at the White House on Monday morning, Trump lambasted the latest Iranian proposal to end the 10-week conflict, calling it a \u201cpiece of garbage.\u201d The president added that the month-long ceasefire<\/a> was \u201con life support.\u201d<\/p>\n Ahead of the campaign, the Trump administration articulated four principal objectives on Iran: eviscerate its Navy, degrade its ballistic missile capabilities, stop its support for regional proxy groups and get its leadership to forswear nuclear weapons. <\/p>\n Netanyahu, in an interview with \u201c60 Minutes,\u201d<\/a> conceded \u2014 at least implicitly \u2014 that those ambitions have not been fully achieved.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s accomplished a great deal, but it\u2019s not over,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s still nuclear material, enriched uranium that has to be taken out of Iran. There are still enrichment sites that have to be dismantled. There are still proxies that Iran supports. There are ballistic missiles that they still want to produce.\u201d <\/p>\n Netanyahu later quipped that the only way to remove Iran\u2019s highly enriched uranium is \u201dyou go in, and you take it out.\u201d He further stated that Trump assured him he \u201cwants to go in there,\u201d though the prime minister declined to specify whether Israeli or U.S. special forces would be involved, or if it would be a coordinated effort under international supervision.<\/p>\n Trump, during his Sunday interview, said that Iran\u2019s nuclear enrichment site was under close surveillance by the Space Force \u2014 and that \u201cwe\u2019ll get at that at some point, whenever we want.\u201d He warned, meanwhile, that \u201cif anybody got near the place, we will know about it, and we\u2019ll blow them up.\u201d<\/p>\n Munitions are low, senator warns<\/p>\n The news comes as retired Navy captain and former astronaut Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., raised concerns about dwindling U.S. munitions amid the war.<\/p>\n Kelly, citing multiple classified Pentagon briefings, asserted that American inventories of Tomahawks, Army Tactical Missile Systems, SM-3 interceptors, Terminal High Altitude Area Defenses (THAADs) and Patriots had been significantly drawn down over the course of the conflict.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s fair to say it\u2019s shocking how deep we have gone into these magazines,\u201d he told \u201cFace The Nation\u201d<\/a> on Sunday. \u201cWe\u2019ve expended a lot of munitions. And that means the American people are less safe. Whether it\u2019s a conflict in the western Pacific, with China or somewhere else in the world, the munitions are depleted.\u201d <\/p>\n Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, in response to a post on X about Kelly\u2019s remarks, rebuked the senator for allegedly \u201cblabbing on TV\u201d about a closed-door briefing. \u201cDid he violate his oath…again?\u201d @DeptofWar legal counsel will review,” Hegseth wrote.<\/a> <\/p>\n Kelly then jabbed back at the defense secretary by posting a video<\/a> of their exchange during an April 30 hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, in which Hegseth publicly acknowledged that it would take the Pentagon \u201cmonths and years\u201d to rebuild the supplies of advanced weaponry depleted in Operation Epic Fury. <\/p>\n