Trump says ‘most brutal regime on earth’ was destroyed by US in Iran war, Americans now free from evil

“This murderous regime also recently murdered 45,000 of its own people for protesting in Iran, 45,000 of them dead,” Trump said. “Having nuclear weapons would be an intolerable threat to these terrorists.”

Learn more | Live updates of Trump’s speech on the Iran war: The US president said “it will be over soon” and regime change has never been the goal

Trump added, “The most violent, brutal regime on Earth is free to engage in terror, coercion, conquest and mass murder behind a nuclear shield. I will never let that happen, and neither should any of our past presidents.”

In his speech, Trump said the Islamic Republic was in ruins and battered. He detailed the ongoing U.S. military campaign against Iran and defended Operation Epic Fury.

“Tonight the Iranian navy is gone, their air force is in ruins, their leaders, most of them…are now dead,” Trump said, adding that Iran’s ability to launch missiles and drones had been significantly reduced.

Learn more | When will the Iran war end? Trump announces big news in prime-time address to nation

On February 28, the United States used a variety of weapons against Iranian targets, including suicide drones, Tomahawk cruise missiles, and stealth fighter jets. It also used low-cost, one-way attack drones modeled on Iranian designs for the first time in combat.

Operation Epic Wrath resulted in iran supreme leader Trump announced in a statement that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei truth social postcalling him “one of the most evil men in history.” Khamenei died shortly after the United States launched Operation Epic Fury, a major military campaign that targeted key Iranian military locations, including missile facilities, naval bases and sites near Khamenei’s office.