The US leader also threatened an attack of “incalculable” proportions if Tehran blocks oil supplies coming through the Strait of Hormuz, as crude prices soar amid the Middle East war.
“And if Iran does anything to do that, they’re going to be hit on a much, much harder level,” Trump said at the press conference.
“We’re going to hit them so hard that it won’t be possible for them or anyone else to help them take back that part of the world, if they do anything.”
At the same time, Trump downplayed the conflict, which has not been approved by the US Congress, repeatedly calling it an “excursion” rather than a war.
Republican Trump has faced criticism for mixed messages coming from his administration about the goals of the Iran war, particularly whether he is seeking full regime change or not.
He declined to say whether new leader Mojtaba Khamenei had a target on his back, saying only that his appointment “was not good.”
But the US president, who has said he should be involved in choosing Iran’s new leader in the same way he did with Venezuela in January, said he preferred an “insider” candidate to an outsider.
