Trump suggests US could end Iran war soon, as UAE and Turkey intercept more missiles

Donald Trump has given a phone interview to CBS News, the BBC’s US media partner, in which he has signalled the war could end sooner than the administration has previously indicated.

The US president is due to give a press conference in around ninety minutes where we may here or more. While we wait, here are his comments to CBS in full.

On the progress of the war: “I think the war is very complete, pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no air force. Their missiles are down to a scatter. Their drones are being blown up all over the place, including their manufacturing of drones. If you look, they have nothing left. There’s nothing left in a military sense.”

On original timeline for operation: “We’re very far ahead of schedule… I don’t know, it depends. Wrapping up is all in my mind, nobody else’s.”

On Iranian missiles: “They’ve shot everything they have to shoot, and they better not try anything cute or it’s going to be the end of that country… If they do anything bad, that would [be] the end of Iran and you’d never hear the name again.”

On the Strait of Hormuz: US is “thinking about taking it over” and could do “a lot”.

On if he has a preferred new Iranian leader in mind: “I don’t want to say anything about that but yeah, I do.”

On the new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei: “I have no message for him. None, whatsoever.”