Trump says US took ‘last best chance’ to strike Iran, warns war could last longer than expected

US President Donald Trump addressing the Medal of Honor Ceremony.

US President Donald Trump said the United States launched military strikes on Iran because it was the “last best chance” to eliminate threats posed by the Iranian regime, as American forces continue large-scale combat operations in the country.

Speaking about the ongoing campaign, Trump said Iran had repeatedly ignored warnings from Washington and continued pursuing nuclear weapons.

"This was our last, best chance to strike, what we're doing right now, and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime," Trump said while addressing the Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House.

He added that Tehran had refused to change course despite repeated warnings from the US.

“Following our obliteration of Iran’s nuclear program and Operation Midnight Hammer a short while ago, we warned Iran not to make any attempt to rebuild at a different location, because they were unable to use the ones we so powerfully blew up, but they ignored those warnings and refused to cease their pursuit of nuclear weapons,” the president said.

Trump was referring to US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites in June, which the White House claimed had “totally” destroyed Tehran’s nuclear programme.

The US president also warned that Iran’s missile capabilities posed a growing threat beyond the Middle East.

“The regime already had missiles capable of hitting Europe and our bases, both local and overseas, and would soon have had missiles capable of reaching our beautiful America,” Trump said.

Trump said the military campaign was progressing faster than initially expected but cautioned that the conflict could still continue for an extended period.

“We're already substantially ahead of our time projections,” Trump said at the White House.

“From the beginning we projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that. We'll do it,” he added.

His remarks come amid the ongoing US-Israeli military campaign in Iran, which has targeted missile sites, military infrastructure, and leadership compounds as part of what Washington calls Operation Epic Fury.

The US military has said the operations are aimed at dismantling Iran’s missile capabilities and preventing it from posing further threats in the region, even as retaliatory strikes and tensions continue across West Asia.