President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that Iran is on the brink of defeat, signaling that the United States is prepared to intensify its military campaign unless Tehran agrees to negotiate. His remarks came as U.S. Central Command announced a second wave of strikes targeting Iranian military assets tied to threats against shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, Trump expressed confidence that the United States has gained the upper hand in its confrontation with the Islamic Republic.

“We’re doing really well with Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran is not happy right now.”

Trump argued that decisive action against Iran should have been taken decades ago rather than allowing the regime to grow stronger over the years.

“Should have been done 47 years ago. Should have been done at least during the 47-year period. And it wasn’t. Other presidents didn’t do what was right. They should have done it a long time ago. Would have been much easier.”

Trump:

Iran will be defeated very soon. pic.twitter.com/DW1RxEjynl

— Clash Report (@clashreport) July 15, 2026

He also suggested that mounting U.S. pressure has left Tehran eager to negotiate, while making clear that military action remains on the table if diplomacy fails.

“They want to settle so badly. They don’t like what we’re doing. And they do want to settle. We’ll find out whether or not we settle with them or we just finish it off,” said Trump.

The president also took aim at President Barack Obama over the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, arguing that the deal strengthened the regime and contributed to the current crisis.

“He was very bad on Iran because he basically gave them the money. He made a – what a horrible deal. He went away from Israel and he went to Iran. And that’s part of the reason that we’re stuck with this whole situation,” Trump stated.

Trump’s latest comments followed an interview with Fox News a day earlier in which he warned that U.S. attacks would become increasingly severe if Iran refused to engage in meaningful negotiations.

“We’re going to hit them very hard tonight, we’re going to hit them very hard tomorrow night, we’re going to hit them very hard the night after, and then next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants, next week comes the bridges.”

He said the campaign would soon expand to include critical infrastructure unless Iranian leaders changed course.

“We’re going to knock out all their power plants, we’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate,” he added.

Trump emphasized that the military operation would continue for as long as he deemed necessary, saying Iran’s capabilities had already been significantly weakened. “Continue until I say it’s enough…the word the military likes to use is degrade. They’ve been degraded to a very low level.”

As Trump spoke, U.S. Central Command confirmed Wednesday evening that American forces had begun a second wave of operations against Iran. According to CENTCOM, the latest strikes are focused on Iranian military capabilities that have been used to threaten international shipping transiting the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important waterways for global trade.

{Matzav.com}