Trump Vows To Prevent Iran From Having Nuclear Weapons In Prime Time Address: 'Intolerable Threat'

"Their proxies were behind the murder of 241 Americans in the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, the slaughter of hundreds of our service members with roadside bombs. They were involved in the attack on the USS Cole, and they carried out the countless other heinous acts," Trump added.

The president went on to highlight that the regime recently killed tens of thousands of people who took the streets to protest economic and social conditions earlier this year, adding that all these factors compound into the need to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

"For these terrorists to have nuclear weapons would be an intolerable threat. The most violent and thuggish regime on earth would be free to carry out their campaigns of terror, coercion, conquest and mass murder from behind a nuclear shield. I will never let that happen, and neither should any of our past presidents," Trump added.

Elsewhere in the speech, Trump claimed that the U.S.'s goals are being achieved, with forces managing to dismantle "the regime's ability to threaten America or reject power outside of their borders."

"That means eliminating Iran's navy, which is now absolutely destroyed, hurting their air force and their missile program at levels never seen before and annihilating their defense industrial base. We've done all of it. Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone. Their missiles are just about used up or beaten."

Combined, these factors will "cripple Iran's military, crush their ability to support terrorist proxies and deny them the ability to build a nuclear weapon," Trump added. He also recalled the nuclear sites targeted by last year's "Operation Midnight Hammer," noting that it would still take Tehran months to retrieve any of the material buried under the rubble. And if they do seek to do it, "we'll hit them with missiles very hard again."

The president concluded the address calling on the population to "keep this conflict in perspective." In reference to its duration, which he estimated will continue for between two and three weeks, he recalled that "American involvement in World War I lasted one year, seven months and five days," and that "World War II lasted for three years, eight months and 25 days."

"We are in this military operation, so powerful, so brilliant against one of the most powerful countries for 32 days. And the country has been eviscerated and essentially is really no longer a threat," he noted.

And ended the speech by saying that "every American can look forward to a day when we are finally free from the wickedness of Iranian aggression and the specter of nuclear blackmail."

"Because of the actions we have taken, we are on the cusp of ending Iran's sinister threat to America and the world. And I'll tell you, the world is watching. And when we do, when it's all over, the United States will be safer, stronger, more prosperous and greater than it has ever been before."