Trump Declares 'Total Victory' Over Iran: Objectives Met or Premature Triumph?

Washington - Ekhbary News Agency

Did Trump Achieve His Goals or Rush Victory?

Just over a month after a fierce war against Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening moved quickly to declare what he described as a "total victory," announcing a temporary two-week ceasefire. However, major American newspapers – such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Christian Science Monitor – have painted a different, more complex picture, suggesting that the American-Israeli war, despite inflicting severe damage on Iran's military infrastructure, did not achieve the comprehensive objectives Trump initially announced, leaving many core issues unresolved.

In a report by its Washington correspondent, Edward Wong, The New York Times stated that the U.S. administration is now seeking to leverage the ceasefire as a pressure tactic to extract concessions from Iran that could retroactively achieve these goals. However, Wong points out that the battlefield realities in the first hours of the truce revealed its fragility, raising serious doubts about the extent to which these objectives have been met. The newspaper noted that the ceasefire remains "fragile," as its first day was marred by rocket launches and drone attacks, along with continued Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, while Gulf states announced the interception of several projectiles.

The Five Objectives: Between Declaration and Battlefield Reality

To understand the current state of the conflict, Wong recalled the five objectives President Trump outlined in his recorded speech on February 28, the day the 38-day war began. According to battlefield data, the primary objective of the American-Israeli military campaign was the complete elimination of Iran's missile capabilities. While the campaign inflicted widespread damage on storage and production facilities, Tehran still retains a portion of its arsenal and continues to use missiles and drones. U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine stated that over 450 ballistic missile storage facilities were destroyed, along with approximately 80% of the production sites for these weapons. Nevertheless, General Caine confirmed that the Iranian military demonstrated remarkable resilience, excavating underground bunkers and returning them to service within hours of being bombed.

The second objective, crushing the Iranian navy, appears more successful on paper but came at a steep humanitarian and legal cost. In his report for The New York Times, Wong detailed the sinking of the Iranian destroyer "Iris Dina" near Sri Lanka by a U.S. submarine, which resulted in the deaths of most of its 180-person crew. Legal experts cited by the newspaper suggest that the U.S. military's failure to rescue survivors could constitute a violation of the Geneva Conventions. Despite the sinking of 90% of the regular navy, a report by The Wall Street Journal indicated that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps still possesses dozens of small boats capable of threatening navigation in the vital Strait of Hormuz.

The third objective focused on neutralizing Iran's "terrorist proxies." However, as The New York Times observed, groups like Hezbollah remain active and undefeated, continuing to launch rockets at Israel and engage in combat despite the announced ceasefire. The fourth objective, perhaps the most critical, was the Iranian nuclear program. Although enrichment facilities were damaged by airstrikes, concerns persist about the survival of quantities of enriched uranium in fortified tunnels, with U.S. hints of potential operations to recover or settle these materials under new arrangements.

The fifth objective, betting on an internal regime change in Iran, remains the most elusive. Despite the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior leaders in U.S. strikes, this transition did not lead to the popular uprising promised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Although historical leaders are absent from the power hierarchy – as reported by The New York Times – the leadership transition to "hardline" figures backed by the Revolutionary Guard has maintained the regime's structure and political orientation.

Warnings of Continued Threat

In an opinion piece, The Wall Street Journal's editorial board noted that the United States halted its strikes on Iran, declaring its military objectives met, shortly after President Trump threatened that "an entire civilization would be wiped out" if the regime refused to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. However, the terms of any potential agreement – including those concerning the Strait and Iran's nuclear program – remain open questions without answers thus far, according to the article. The editorial board warned that the Iranian regime continues to pose a threat in the Strait of Hormuz, and the mission is far from complete, contrary to the promises made last week. It added that Iran has already begun restricting ship movements and imposing transit fees, representing a radical shift in the status of the Strait, which was managed as an international waterway.