President Donald Trump hinted Monday that the U.S.–Israeli military campaign against Iran is nearing its conclusion, asserting that Tehran’s armed forces have been largely dismantled after weeks of intense strikes.

Speaking to CBS News, Trump said the operations targeting Iran — known as Operation Epic Fury and Operation Roaring Lion — are progressing far faster than initially expected.

“I think the war is very much complete, pretty much,” Trump said. “They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no air force. Their missiles are down to a scatter. Their drones are being blown up all over the place, including their manufacturing of drones.”

“If you look, they have nothing left. There’s nothing left in a military sense,” he added.

Despite the president’s claim that Iran’s military capability has been largely destroyed, fighting is continuing, with Iranian missiles and drones still targeting Israeli territory and U.S. positions across the region.

Meanwhile, tensions have intensified around the leadership of Iran itself.

According to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, Trump has told aides he would support the killing of Iran’s newly installed supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, if he refuses to accept Washington’s demands.

Those demands reportedly include a complete end to Iran’s nuclear development program.

Current and former U.S. officials cited by the newspaper said Trump privately indicated he would back such action should Tehran reject the conditions being set by Washington.

The White House declined to comment on the report.

Publicly, Trump has already made clear his opposition to Mojtaba Khamenei’s rise to power.

In an interview with the New York Post, the president said he was “not happy” about the younger Khamenei assuming the role of supreme leader, having previously called the appointment “unacceptable.”

Last week, Trump also wrote on social media that he wanted a say in selecting a new “great and acceptable” leader for Iran after the regime offered what he described as its “unconditional surrender.”

“I’m not going through this to end up with another Khamenei,” Trump said in an interview with Time magazine.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)