U.S. President Donald Trump on March 4 rated the U.S. performance in the war with Iran as a 15 on a scale of 10, saying the Islamic Republic's leaders were rapidly being killed and vowing to push on.
"We're doing well on the war front, to put it mildly. Somebody said on a scale of 10, where would you rate it? I said about a 15," Trump told a gathering of tech bosses at the White House.
"We're in a very strong position now, and their leadership is just rapidly going. Everybody that seems to want to be a leader, they end up dead."
Trump added that Tehran's arsenal of ballistic missiles was being "wiped out rapidly."
He repeated his justifications for attacking Iran, saying Tehran was on its way to obtaining a nuclear weapon.
"When crazy people have nuclear weapons, bad things happen," Trump added.
The U.S. leader pledged that he would "continue forward" with the joint air campaign with Israel that has already slain Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei on its opening day on Feb. 28.
Trump's administration has faced criticism after days of mixed messages about the rationale for the war, given the Republican's previous campaign boasts about starting "no new wars."
[HH] Senate rejects bid to curb Trump's war powers
His remarks came as the U.S. Senate rejected a resolution aimed at curbing Trump’s authority to continue military strikes on Iran, in a narrow congressional show of support for a conflict launched without explicit approval from lawmakers.
The bipartisan measure, introduced by Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Rand Paul, would have required the withdrawal of U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran unless Congress authorizes the campaign.
But with Republicans holding a 53-47 majority in the upper chamber of Congress and largely backing the president's decision to attack Iran alongside Israel, the resolution fell short by exactly that margin.
