President says recent strikes have 'knocked out' much of Iran's military; chancellor urges planning for the 'day after'
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Summary
At an Oval Office meeting, the president said U.S. and allied strikes have degraded Iran's military capabilities and claimed heavy casualties; Germany's chancellor said partners must plan for the post-regime period. Reporters pressed on the imminence of the threat and casualty figures.
The President told reporters in the Oval Office that recent strikes on Iran have severely damaged Tehran's military capabilities and its ability to detect incoming attacks. "They have no navy... no air force... their radar has been knocked out," the President said, describing a campaign he called "very hard." He said leadership targets have been hit and asserted that "35,000" had been killed in recent weeks — a figure he repeatedly cited but did not attribute to an independent source.
Chancellor Mertz, visiting from Germany, said his country supports the United States and Israel "to get rid of this terrible terrorist regime" and emphasized the need to coordinate on what will follow if the regime falls, calling it "extremely important for Europe" to plan a common approach.
Reporters asked whether Israel had forced the U.S. to act. The President said he "might have forced Israel's hand" but framed the strikes as a preemptive response to what he described as imminent threats and ongoing negotiations that he believed would have led to attacks. When pressed on what amounted to an "imminent" threat, the President reiterated that he thought Iran "was gonna attack" and that U.S. action was intended to prevent that.
The exchange included claims about who has been targeted and casualty totals. The President characterized Iranian forces as "being decimated" and said missile stocks and detection systems were being destroyed; those characterizations reflect the President's statements to reporters and are presented here as his assertions. The chancellor said allies must "strategize on this entire region" and plan for the "day after" if Iran's current leadership is removed.
The leaders also discussed the risk that a new Iranian leader could be "as bad as the previous person." The President called that a "worst case" and said the goal is to see "somebody in there that's gonna bring it back for the people." Chancellor Mertz reiterated common interest in a coordinated transition approach.
The meeting closed after additional questions about Ukraine and other topics. No formal multilateral roadmap or specific post-regime plan was announced during the session.