WASHINGTON — President Trump announced that the United States is nearing completion of an agreement with Iran to conclude their military conflict, stating that a memorandum of understanding will be finalized within days.
However, several critical goals that Trump established for the military engagement appear to remain only partially completed. While the Trump administration maintains its objectives have been consistent and clear, the list of aims has grown and changed as the president and his team have discussed the conflict since its February 28 beginning. Throughout this period, the military engagement has damaged the worldwide economy, strained international partnerships and created unresolved concerns about the conflict’s planning, rationale and consequences.
According to most assessments, American and Israeli military operations have substantially weakened Iran’s armed forces and eliminated numerous high-ranking officials. However, these battlefield victories don’t automatically mean all of the president’s broader strategic goals have been reached, despite administration claims Friday that they were achieving their stated purposes.
Here’s an examination of the goals Trump has outlined at different times since the conflict started and what is known about their current status:
A primary goal established by the administration was to “destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground.”
In late March, Trump stated that Iran’s missiles “are mostly decimated” and claimed 90% of their missiles and launchers had been eliminated.
By mid-May, this assessment became more cautious, with the president stating that 82% of Iran’s missile arsenal had been destroyed.
Adm. Brad Cooper, the senior U.S. military leader in the Middle East, informed Congress in mid-May that Iran retains a “very moderate if not small capability to continue strikes” throughout the region.
Iran demonstrated as recently as this week that it continues to possess missile launch capabilities when it struck three Gulf nations allied with the U.S.
During the conflict’s early stages, the president and his team sometimes identified this as an independent goal. At other times, it disappeared from their objectives list.
U.S. Central Command has stated that its strike targets in Iran have encompassed weapons manufacturing and missile and drone production facilities.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed Congress in early June that Iran has experienced “massive destruction” of its defense manufacturing infrastructure and “80 to 90% of attrition. It will take years for them to rebuild it.”
Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press” in an interview broadcast Sunday: “Most of the drone factories have been knocked out, most of the launching pads have been knocked out and most of the missile manufacturing areas have been knocked out. But they still have capacity.”
The U.S. and Israel rapidly gained control of Iranian airspace, where they operated with minimal opposition.
Rubio informed lawmakers that Iran retains drone capabilities but lacks the capacity to deploy drone swarms for attacks, as it did when the war commenced.
He also stated Iran lacks a traditional navy but operates small vessels equipped with machine guns that interfere with shipping and occasionally deploy underwater mines.
Iran has demonstrated continued regional attack capabilities, including a fatal June 3 drone and missile assault on Kuwait that temporarily shut down its primary airport. The U.S. and Bahrain also reported intercepting missiles and drones that Iran launched at the Gulf kingdom.
On Tuesday, Trump held Tehran responsible for bringing down a U.S. Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz after it struck an Iranian drone.
Trump significantly changed his position over the past year after announcing in June that the U.S. had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, only for his advisers to subsequently warn that Iran was merely weeks from developing a bomb to justify current military actions.
A critical unresolved issue involves approximately 970 pounds of enriched uranium that Tehran possesses which could potentially be weaponized. This material is reportedly buried beneath three nuclear facilities that the U.S. and Israel bombed last year. Trump stated in a May 29 social media message that it will be recovered by the U.S. “in close coordination and conjunction with the Islamic Republic of Iran, plus the International Atomic Energy Agency, and DESTROYED.”
Iran has not indicated whether it would agree. Without Iranian consent, seizing the material would be extremely dangerous, according to experts, and would require deploying substantial U.S. forces into the country.
Trump informed reporters Thursday that there was a “conceptual” agreement regarding the uranium, but provided no specifics and Iran has not yet confirmed this.
A senior administration official, speaking anonymously to reporters Friday to update negotiations, stated that Iran has agreed the uranium will be destroyed and removed, but implementation details remain unresolved.
Trump added a fifth U.S. objective in a March social media post: “Protecting, at the highest level, our Middle Eastern Allies, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and others.”
The U.S. maintains thousands of military personnel at regional bases and installations, but Trump has not clarified how extensively he would act to defend Middle East allies from threats.
As Trump announced the U.S. was approaching an Iranian agreement recently, he suggested any deal should somehow require many Gulf allies to join the Abraham Accords, agreements from Trump’s first presidency aimed at normalizing relations with Israel. However, this appears highly unlikely since Israel’s Gaza Strip operations have increased tensions with Gulf Arab nations and the broader Muslim world.
During this week’s exchange of strikes between the U.S. and Iran, Tehran targeted Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, prompting American retaliation with additional strikes.
The Trump administration has begun considering whether to allow Gulf allies to use Iran’s frozen financial assets to cover war damages, but officials have not announced whether they will proceed with this approach.
The senior administration official stated Friday that the memorandum of understanding would ensure lasting regional peace, but provided no details about its structure or implementation.
Maintaining commercial shipping through this crucial waterway was not among the original war justifications, but after Iran effectively blocked strait traffic, it has become a major conflict issue.
The Strait of Hormuz serves as a passage for 20% of global oil and natural gas, and its effective closure since the war began has increased worldwide energy costs and other commodity prices. Iran had permitted vessels it considered friendly to transit while imposing substantial fees.
Trump has stated that a proposed Iranian agreement would include reopening the strait and ending the U.S. blockade of Tehran’s ports.
In March, Trump and his administration frequently cited weakening Iran’s proxy terrorist networks as a central operational goal.
Over time, administration officials have provided fewer updates about this objective, which the president described as ensuring “the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces” and “ensuring that the Iranian regime cannot continue to arm, fund, and direct terrorist armies outside of their borders.”
The U.S. initially targeted Iranian-supported militia groups in Iraq. However, the primary concern has become Israel’s expanding Lebanese conflict against Hezbollah, which Iran supports. Iran has demanded that Lebanese fighting must cease as part of any U.S. agreement, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears determined to pursue his objective of eliminating the militant organization.
Israel announced Thursday that it was not participating in the agreement the U.S. had negotiated with Iran.
The administration official stated Friday that the U.S. was confident that comprehensive regional peace terms in the memorandum of understanding would encompass both Hezbollah and Israel. If Iran fulfills its commitments regarding Hezbollah restraint, Israel would not need to respond, the official explained.
