Trump said that the U.S. war with Iran is practically over

The war in Iran may end sooner than previously expected.

U.S. President Donald Trump said.

“I think the war is practically over. They have no navy, no communications, they have no air force,” the White House chief said on Monday, March 9, in a phone interview with CBS News. At the same time, he noted that the United States and Israel “haven’t won enough yet.”

Later, speaking at a press conference in Florida, Trump answered “no” when a journalist asked whether the war in Iran would end this week. Saying only that it would happen “very soon,” the U.S. leader did not name a specific date. He added that the greatest danger in the war had passed three days earlier.

In the CBS interview, Trump stressed that Iran’s missiles had been almost completely destroyed, and that drones and the factories producing them had been put out of action: “If you look at the situation, they have nothing left. Militarily, they have nothing left.”

The U.S. president claimed that the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran said a few days ago it fully controlled, is currently open and shipping is continuing. However, Trump added that he is considering having the United States “take control” of the strait.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) demanded that Arab and European countries seeking Tehran’s permission for free passage through the Strait of Hormuz expel the ambassadors of Israel and the United States.

Trump said he was “disappointed” by the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s new supreme leader, calling it “an extra serving of the same old problems.” Earlier, the American president had said Iran’s new leader should receive Washington’s approval, otherwise “he won’t last long.”

After Trump’s statements about the war nearing its end were published, oil prices—which had surged sharply in recent days—fell. Brent crude dropped on the evening of March 9 to $89.20 per barrel, after briefly breaking above $120 a day earlier.

To further reduce oil prices, Trump said to journalists in Florida, he intends—at least temporarily—to lift some oil-related sanctions “until the situation normalizes.” He did not specify which countries this would apply to. Three days earlier, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington was considering easing sanctions on Russian oil already loaded on tankers. That same day, the United States exempted Indian refineries for 30 days from a ban on buying Russian oil already shipped on tankers, so that “oil can continue to flow to the global market.”

Shortly before the press conference in Doral, Florida, Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putinand told reporters it was a “positive conversation.”

Soon after the war in Iran began—waged by the United States and Israel since February 28—Trump had said that the military operation, “Epic Fury,” would last four to five weeks.