CARLISLE, Pa. — President Trump on Wednesday didn’t rule out annihilating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as the US ramped up its military strikes on Iran.
Noting his tough talk on Iran, FOX Business asked the president if that meant he would destroy the powerful branch of Iran’s military just like he wiped out the terrorist group ISIS in his first term.
“Yeah, it does,” Trump responded to correspondent Edward Lawrence. “We’ll see what’s happening.”
Wednesday marked the fifth day in a row of American attacks on Iran as the US Navy enforced a blockade on Iranian ports.
“The strikes are targeting Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, an international waterway vital to global commerce,” US Central Command said in a post to X.
The strikes are part of the American pressure campaign on Tehran to heed the conditions of the memorandum of understanding and make a final peace deal. Many officials in the administration blame radicals in the IRGC for preventing a ceasefire.
The president vowed Tehran will be “defeated very soon.” The conflict has been ongoing since late February 2026, spanning roughly four and a half months.
“We’ll have Iran defeated soon. They’ll be defeated very soon,” he said at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit.
Oil prices were up on Wednesday to almost $80 a barrel as the fighting resumed. Prices had been dropping amid hopes of a peace deal.
Meanwhile, the president’s threats have been getting more dire.
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On Tuesday, he warned Tehran he would start hitting energy targets and non-military infrastructure, such as bridges.
“I’ll save the energy targets for last, but ultimately we’ll hit energy targets,” he told Fox News.
He also mused about destroying Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified site that houses an underground complex believed to be the heart of Iran’s nuclear program, along with taking Kharg Island and having control of Iran’s oil industry.
Vice President JD Vance told podcaster Joe Rogan on Wednesday the goal of the military strikes was to get Iran back to the negotiating table.
“We’re not just going to bomb and bomb and bomb. We’re going to try to use our military force as one of the many tools that we have to solve the problem,” Vance said.
But Iran, for its part, is showing no signs of backing down.
Tehran’s top negotiator said the country is “ready for battle.”
“We have never welcomed war and do not, but we must always be ready for battle and stand our ground to protect our security and national interests,” Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Wednesday.
Trump, meanwhile, said he heard from Iranian officials earlier Wednesday that they want to meet for another round of peace talks.
“They always want to meet,” he said. “They’re nasty people, but they want to make a deal. I can tell you they want to make a deal.”
“We’ll find out whether or not we settle with them or we just finish them off,” he said.
Peace talks broke down over the weekend when Iran refused to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which US officials said was critical to discussions moving forward.
