Trump: ‘Iran war going to end soon; if it starts up again, they’ll be hit harder’

US President Donald Trump suggests the war with Iran is soon wrapping up, while albeit refraining from giving a specific timeline.

“We’re getting very close to finishing that too,” Trump says of the war during a press conference.

“It’s going to be ended soon,” he later adds. “And if it starts up again, they’ll be hit even harder.”

Pressed whether “soon” means in a week, Trump responds, “No, but I think soon.”

A reporter points out that Trump is saying the war is nearly over, even though his defense secretary has said it’s just beginning.

“So which is it?” the reporter asks.

“You could say both,” Trump responds.

“It’s the beginning of [Iran] building a new country,” Trump says, while adding that the Islamic Republic’s military has been decimated.

Asked what more he wants to see before ending the war, Trump says Iran must have leaders who don’t try to develop a nuclear weapon.

Iran has insisted that it does not seek such capabilities, but the US has accused Tehran of lying.

Trump says he’ll be prepared to end the war, “When basically I can see that they will no longer have any capacity whatsoever for a very long period of time of developing weaponry that could be used against the United States, Israel or any of our allies.”

He reiterates his claim that Iran was planning on “taking over the Middle East” and destroying Israel.

“We stopped it with good timing. We’re very proud to be involved in this.