US-Israel War On Iran Update: Trump Claims Goals Nearing Completion, Tehran Says It Will Fight Back

We will continue until our objectives are fully achieved. Thanks to the progress we’ve made, I can say we are on track to complete all of America’s objectives shortly, very shortly,” the US president says.

“We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to take them back to the stone ages where they belong,” he says.

He adds that “regime change was never our goal” but that “regime change has occurred because of their original leader’s death”.

He’s also warns Iran of strikes on power plants if no deal is agreed.

“If during this period of time no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets. If no deal is reached, we are going to hit every one of their electric generating plants very hard, and probably simultaneously,” he says.

The US president has portrayed the conflict as a push to secure a better and safer future for the US.

“This is a true investment in your children and your grandchildren’s future,” Trump said. “The whole world is watching, and they can’t leave the power, strength and brilliance. They just can’t believe what they’re seeing.”

He reiterated that the war is necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, although his own intelligence chief acknowledged last year that Tehran is not seeking one.

"Tonight, Iran's navy is gone, their air force is in ruins, their leaders, most of them... are now dead. Their command and control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is being decimated as we speak, their ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed, and their weapons, factories, and rocket launchers are being blown to pieces," the president said, claiming victory for US forces and his presidency.

"Our enemies are losing--and America, as it has been for five years under my presidency, is winning, and now, winning bigger than ever before."

Trump added that Iran's ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed.

Shortly after Trump concluded his remarks, in which he claimed that Iran’s military capabilities have been all-but crushed, the Israeli military said it detected Iranian missile launches.

“Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the Israeli military said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday (April 2) the original objectives of the war in Iran had been met and it was not clear what more remained to be achieved.

“Now those objectives have been realised it is not clear what more needs to be achieved or what the end point looks like.”

Source: AFP

Japan’s Nikkei share average fell on Thursday (April 2), reversing ‌earlier gains, after U.S. President Donald Trump did not provide a clear ⁠sign for the end of the war on Iran. The Nikkei was down 1.6% at ‌52,867 as of 0216 GMT, after rising as much as 0.97% earlier ‌in the session.

The broader Topix also ‌erased ⁠gains, falling 0.98% to 3,635.18.

Source: Reuters

Members of Congress from the Democratic Party have sharply criticised President Donald Trump’s address to the nation, expressing their views on social media soon after the speech.

Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari said Trump’s threat to bring Iran “back to the stone ages” was a “vile, horrifying, evil” way to speak about a country of 90 million people.

Congressman Jim Himes remarked that oil prices had already risen by $5 a barrel within an hour of the speech ending. “Going to be a wild night on Truth Social. And I’m still not sure what he said,” Himes added.

Senator Chris Van Hollen accused Trump of misleading the American public, saying the President had falsely claimed two weeks ago that “we won.” “This delusional man is a danger to our country and the world,” Van Hollen said.

Congressman Lloyd Doggett said it was difficult to identify the “biggest whopper” in Trump’s speech, but suggested that the claim that the United States had “no inflation” might be the most misleading.

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said its fighters launched drones and rockets at northern Israel on Thursday (April 2), with the Israeli military’s Home Front Command saying air raid sirens were activated across the border.

In separate statements, the Iran-backed group claimed rocket fire targeting Israeli troops in border areas and a drone attack targeting a village.

Sirens were activated in those areas, according to the Israeli Home Front Command, with no reports of any casualties or damage.

Souce: AFP

Israel’s military said air defences were responding on Thursday (April 2) to a fourth Iranian missile attack within six hours, as sirens sounded in parts of northern Israel.

A military statement said Israeli forces had “identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel”, adding that “defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat”.

Source: AFP

Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric says the UN hopes to be able to provide an update on the investigations soon, despite the “challenging situation on the ground” and delays accessing the “incident scenes”.

“These investigations take time, as technical experts examine physical evidence on the scenes, while others look at context and liaise with parties to collect and verify information,” Dujarric added.

The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) has slammed Trump’s threat to send Iran “back to the Stone Ages”, saying the remarks were “anti-Muslim, racist, and dehumanising”.

“Targeting civilian infrastructure is a war crime,” the group said in a post on X, urging lawmakers to take action to stop the war.

“The Trump administration allowed Israel to drag our nation into an illegal war of aggression, against the will of the American people,” it said. “When Congress returns next week, CAIR urges leaders to pass a War Powers Resolution, cut off funding for escalation, and investigate Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for war crimes immediately.

 There’s been an attack in the northern town of Metula, with some of the rockets intercepted, while others fell in open areas.

Joe Kent, a former senior US security official who resigned over the war on Iran, has urged Trump to bring the conflict to an end at the earliest.

Responding to Trump’s address to the nation, he wrote on X: “We honor our fallen by learning from our past & only shedding American blood in defense of our nation. The best time to get out of a war of choice is now, before we lose more lives.”

He added that while the US can declare victory at a time of its choosing, that would only be possible if Trump restrains Israel.

-Al Jazeera

Israel’s Channel 12 has released an image showing a plume of smoke rising from a settlement in the Galilee region following a barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon.

The broadcaster reported that more than 30 rockets were launched into the area within minutes.

The strike was the second such attack reported in the Galilee region within the past hour.

Israel’s Channel 12 reports that two men, aged 85 and 34, were slightly injured by shrapnel following a rocket attack in northern Kiryat Shmona.

-Al Jazeera

The US embassy in Baghdad warned on Thursday that pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq could carry out attacks in the city within the next one to two days.

“Iraqi terrorist militia groups aligned with Iran may intend to conduct attacks in central Baghdad in the next 24-48 hours,” the embassy said in a statement on X, once again urging American citizens in the country to leave immediately.

-AFP

President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian posts a letter addressed to the people of the United States of America on X, says the relationship between the two countries was not historically hostile.

"The turning point, however, was the intervention aimed at preventing the nationalization of Iran's own resources," the letter states.

China on Thursday (April 2, 2026) called for an immediate halt to hostilities in West Asia after US President Donald Trump threatened heavy strikes on Iran in the coming weeks.

“Military means cannot fundamentally solve the problem, and the escalation of conflicts is not in the interests of either side,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a news conference, urging “the parties concerned to immediately cease military operations”.

-AFP

Morocco, which relies on energy imports, has sufficient diesel and petrol reserves to last 51 and 55 days respectively, while coal and gas supplies have been secured until the end of June, the Energy Ministry said on Thursday (April 2, 2026).

Fuel prices in Morocco rose by about 30% last month after tensions in the Gulf, prompting the government to reinstate subsidies for professional transporters, including taxis, buses and trucks, to help stabilise costs.

-Reuters

Philippine Foreign Minister Ma. Theresa Lazaro said on Thursday (April 2, 2026) that she held a “productive call” with her Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi.

“Building on recent talks, we reached a positive understanding on the safety of our seafarers and the security of our energy supply,” Lazaro said on X.

-Reuters

Foreign ministers of UAE, Jordan, Türkiye, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar have released a joint statement condemning imposition of the death penalty in the occupied West Bank and its de facto application against Palestinians.

Kremlin ‌spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia's President Vladimir Putin will be ⁠host Egyptian Foreign ‌Minister ‌Badr ‌Abdelatty ⁠on today ⁠for talks that will ‌focus on the Iran war ‌and the wider Middle ⁠East, as well ‌as bilateral relations.

- Reuters

Hezbollah says it carried out several attacks against Israel in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. The group targeted an Israeli helicopter with a missile over the border town of Ramiya, claiming it was forced to retreat.

It also launched and successfully landed a guided missile at Israeli forces inside a house in the border town of Qaouzah.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claims to have targeted US-linked steel facilities in the Gulf region.

In a statement circulated by Iranian media, the IRGC said it struck steel sites in the UAE’s Abu Dhabi and aluminum facilities in Bahrain, following previous attacks over the weekend.

“These attacks are a warning, and if the attack on Iranian industries is repeated, the next response will be much more painful by attacking the main infrastructure of the occupation regime and the American economic industries in the region,” the statement added.

Following US President Donald Trump's 'Stone Age' threat to Iran, Tehran has turned the jibe around and accused Washington of bringing crimes from the Stone Age to the modern world.

In a statement on the official X channel of the Iranian embassy in India, Tehran stated that it will not be "driven back to the Stone Age" by bombing from the US and Israel.

In an update posted on X, the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Defence has said its air defence systems dealt with 19 ballistic missiles and 26 drones on Thursday.

Since the start of the war, the ministry has tallied 2,038 drones, 19 cruise missiles and 457 ballistic missiles, the post added.

Oil climbed around 7% on Thursday, with Brent above $108 a barrel following US President Donald Trump's address to the nation regarding the ongoing conflict wiht Uran.

Europe’s diesel futures rose to more than $200 a barrel, the highest level since 2022, as the ongoing war and the effective closure of Hormuz cause fuel shortages.

Two of Iran’s biggest steel plants – Khuzestan Steel Company in the city of Ahvaz and Mobarakeh Steel Company in the central Isfahan province – say they have been pushed out of service following a series of US-Israeli attacks.

As reported by Al Jazeera, Israeli air strikes have targeted the towns of Sultaniyeh, Aita al-Jabal, al-Jumayjimah and Tibnin in southern Lebanon. Numerous deaths were reported by Lebanon's Health Ministry over the last couple of days. The publication also reported that homes and farmland were destroyed overnight in Bayada and in Naqoura, where the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is headquartered.

Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, said seven million Iranians have volunteered for military service since the start of the war with Israel and the US. 

"A powerful national campaign" has led to the millions of Iranians declaring that they are "ready to pick up arms and stand in defense of our nation", he said.

- BBC

UN Secretary General António Guterres speaking to reporters in New York, has called for an immediate end to the war and cessation of hostilities on all sides, reports the BBC

Citing rising energy and food prices, he further added, "When the Strait of Hormuz is strangled, the world’s poorest and most vulnerable cannot breathe," he says. 

"My message is clear, to the United States and Israel, it is high time to stop the war that is inflicting immense human suffering and already triggering devastating economic consequences," Guterres said.

He also urged Iran to stop "attacking their neighbours." The UNSC is also holding a session on UN and Gulf cooperation in maintaining peace and security in the Middle East.

Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Jassim al-Budaiwi has condemned recent Iranian attacks, describing them as a serious violation of Gulf states’ sovereignty.

“The GCC reaffirms the urgent need to immediately hold these attacks, restore security, stability and calm in the region, and ensuring the safety of air and maritime navigation, the safety of international supply chains, and protect global energy markets,” al-Budaiwi told the UN Security Council.

“GCC states reaffirm their inherent right to self defence in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter, and will take all necessary measures to protect their sovereignty.”

“GCC, states do not seek war,” he further added during the UNSC meeting.

Emmanuel Macron has said Donald Trump’s comments about his marriage were “neither elegant nor up to standard” after the US president put on an accent and mocked his French counterpart and his wife during a private lunch in Washington.

Arriving in South Korea on Thursday, Macron made clear his displeasure at Trump’s comments, which appeared briefly in a video on the White House YouTube channel before being removed.

“So I am not going to respond to them – they do not merit a response,” Macron told reporters.

The Israeli army says it has struck “central military command centres” which it claims were used by the IRGC to funnel money to groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

In a post on X, it claimed the centres had also been used to fund and strengthen the armed forces in Iran without providing any evidence for these claims.

US President Trump has asked Iran to make a deal before it is too late, sharing a snapshot of the 'biggest bridge in Iran' collapsing and warned that more such actions are to follow.

"IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, AND THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF WHAT STILL COULD BECOME A GREAT COUNTRY!" he wrote on the post on Truth Social.