President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that he believes Iran would have attacked Israel and possibly the United States if he had not ordered strikes against the country first.
“I think if we hadn’t gone first, they would have done it against Israel and maybe against us, if possible,” Trump said during an event at the White House, describing the conflict as “an amazing thing happening right before your eyes.”
“We are doing very well on the war front, to put it mildly,” he added. “Someone asked on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate it? I said about 15.”
His assessment aligns with other administration officials’ updates on the conflict shared on Wednesday.
Trump also commented that Iran’s missiles “are being destroyed quickly, their launchers are being destroyed.” He acknowledged Iran’s attacks on neighboring countries but did not elaborate further, according to Panorama.
“They are attacking their neighbors. Attacking, in some cases, their allies or former allies. And, you know, it’s a country that was out of control,” he said.
He again suggested uncertainty about who might lead Iran after the elimination of its top leaders:
“Their leadership is leaving very quickly. Anyone who seems to want to be a leader ends up dead.”
