US President Donald Trump says his core "objectives are nearing completion" in Iran, during a primetime televised speech from the White House
The roughly 20 minute speech also called on allies to "build up the courage" to secure shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, arguing that the US doesn't "need it"
After the speech, global oil prices rose to $105 a barrel
Earlier, the president said he's considering taking the US out of Nato over what he says is a lack of help in the Middle East - but an act passed in 2023 means it would not be straightforward
Meanwhile, Iran's foreign ministry says Trump's claim that the country has asked for a ceasefire is "false and baseless", Iranian state media reports
The US president had said Iran's "new regime president" had made the request - but he didn't clarify who he was referring to
Image source, /EPA/ShutterstockWhile Trump gave his national address, a group of military leaders sat and watched on at the Cross Hall in the White House.
Among them was Gen Dan Caine, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also present, along with members of Trump's cabinet.
While global oil markets are rising in reaction to Trump's address, US stock futures are falling - pointing to a lower open for Wall Street on Thursday morning.
Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures are around 0.7% lower, while Nasdaq futures are down by about 1%.
Stock market futures are contracts that allow investors to buy or sell a stock index at a set price on a future date.
They function as a bet on which direction investors expect the market to head, with prices reflecting market sentiment.
The United Arab Emirates is in the midst of fending off incoming missile and drone threats, its defence ministry said in the last hour, just before US President Donald Trump's address.
The ministry said the attacks have come from Iran and alerted the public about sounds being heard across the country as it works to intercept the missiles.
In his address that wrapped up minutes ago, Trump thanked the UAE and other Gulf allies, which have come under fire by Iran in retaliation to the US-Israeli strikes.
Trump said that the Iranian regime was launching "deranged terror attacks" against oil tankers and neighbouring countries that "have nothing to do with the conflict" as he addressed concerns about rising energy prices.
We can bring you some early reaction to Trump's speech.
Ivo Daalder, former US ambassador to Nato, says Trump's speech didn't answer many critical questions including why the US is still carrying out military action in Iran if Trump says Iran's nuclear capabilities, navy, and missiles have been destroyed.
"I don't see why we think we should be safer... and I think the American public have a similar sense of doubt," he tells the BBC's Sumi Somaskanda.
He says while Trump didn't come out strongly against Nato allies and repeat threats to pull out of the alliance in this speech, he is likely to do later on social media.
Peter Hoskins
Business reporter, Singapore
Trump's address appears to have done nothing to reassure global oil markets that disruption to the key Strait of Hormuz shipping route will ease anytime soon.
The price of benchmark Brent crude was trading at about $100 a barrel before the president started speaking.
It fluctuated during the address but is now heading higher and is currently up by around 4% at $105.38.
The strait is crucial to the global economy as around 20% of the world's energy usually passes through the narrow shipping lane.
It has been effectively shut since the conflict started on 28 February as Iran retaliated to US and Israeli airstrikes by threatening to attack ships using the waterway.
Melissa Toufanian, who was a senior adviser to former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, tells the BBC that she thinks American audiences are likely "more confused" about the Iran war after Trump's speech.
"I don't think there's a single American who was watching that speech today who is going to feel like there is a clear plan, like there is a clear timeline, that we are safer and more secure," she says.
Trump concludes his 19-minute address.
"Tonight, every American can look forward to a day when we are finally free from the wickedness of Iranian aggression and the spectre of nuclear blackmail," he says.
The president promises that when the war is over "the United States will be safer, stronger, more prosperous and greater than it has ever been before".
Trump says the US is unstoppable as a military force. He says the war is "a true investment" for American children and future generation.
He then mentions the lengths of wars in the 20th and 21st centuries, saying they went on for years but this conflict has gone on for only 32 days.
Trump says Americans are no longer under threat from Iranian aggression and "the spectre of nuclear blackmail" and the US will be "safer, stronger, more prosperous" than it has ever been.
The president has concluded his remarks.
Image source, ReutersTrump also spoke about US and Venezuela's oil production, saying that the US does not need oil from abroad.
He says that countries that need oil from the Middle East should now take the lead to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.
Energy shipments from the Gulf have largely come to a standstill after Iran retaliated against the US-Israeli strikes by threatening to attack vessels that try to cross the Strait of Hormuz - a critical trade waterway.
Trump says: "To those countries that can’t get fuel, many of which refuse to get involved in the decapitation of Iran… build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait and just take it. Protect it."
Trump also calls for countries to buy US oil instead.
Trump says the US is "systemically dismantling the regime's ability to threaten America or project power outside of their borders".
He says Iran's navy, air force and missile production capabilities have been destroyed.
"Tonight I am pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion," he says.
He says he has traveled to the Dover Air Force base to honour the 13 American soldiers who died in the war. "We salute them and now we must honour them by completting the mission."
Bernd Debusmann Jr
White House reporter
As expected, Trump declares the US is "nearing completion" of its various military objectives, and vows to "finish the job" in the near term.
Trump has also sought to lay the blame for rising petrol prices - a key domestic issue - on the Iranian side.
The president's promise that the US is "better prepared" than ever to deal with the economic ramifications of the war, however, will ring hollow for his detractors and those who have opposed the military operation and argued that those threats only began when US and Israeli strikes began.
As he has in recent days, Trump also told US allies to "build up the courage" to secure shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, arguing that the US doesn't "need it".
Some observers will immediately wonder whether any US withdrawal from the conflict in the coming weeks would mean that it essentially washes its hands of the task of ensuring freedom of navigation in the region.
Trump thanks US allies in the region, including Israel and the Gulf states.
"They've been great, and we will not let them get hurt or fail in any way, shape or form," he says.
Trump notes that Iran has attacked many of these countries and says this underscores that it should never have a nuclear weapon.
Trump calls the nuclear deal negotiated by former US President Barak Obama a mistake, and says he was honoured to terminate it.
The president then talks about a strike he ordered in June 2025, Operation Midnight Hammer, against Iran's nuclear programme.
"Nobody's ever seen anything like it," he says.
"We totally obliterated those nuclear sites."
Iran did not give up on its nuclear programme and was fast developing longer rang missiles, says Trump.
They were "right at the doorstep" of developing a nuclear weapon, he says.
Trump says he's making this address to explain why Epic Fury is "necessary for the safety of America" and the world.
Listing terrorist attacks and other acts carried out by Iran or its proxies over the past 47 years, he called the regime running the country thuggish and murderous - pointing also to a recent crackdown on protest in the country which killed thousands of citizens.
Leaders like this cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon, he said.
"I will never let that happen."
Trump notes that in his first term he presided over the US assassination of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, who he calls "the father of the roadside bomb".
Trump says if Soleimani was still alive, "we would have had probably a different conversation tonight but you know what we would still be winning and winning big".
Bernd Debusmann Jr
White House reporter
The beginning of Trump's televised address this evening has focused heavily on what he sees as the successes of this war, and the necessity for it.
Within moments of beginning his remarks, Trump described "swift, decisive and overwhelming" victories in the war, including the deaths of senior Iranian leaders and a "dramatically curtailed" ability to launch missiles and drones.
"America is winning, and winning bigger than ever before," Trump added.
Trump quickly mentioned Venezuela, which he has repeatedly said in the past is a model for US military operations overseas. It was quick, "violent" and left an amenable government in place, he said.
That has yet to happen in Iran, which has - at least publicly - refused to acknowledge that it has asked for a ceasefire or that talks are leading to an imminent end of hostilities.
Notably, Trump has yet to address the immediate need for an operation earlier this year, instead blaming past administrations for failing to act against a regime that has been a thorn in the side of the US for nearly 50 years.
Trump also thanks the US military for the swift operation to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, saying it was praised all over the world.
He adds that the US and Venezuela are getting along well, describing them as "venture partners", and that they are no longer dependent on Middle Eastern oil but are for their allies.
Trump then marks one month since the star of Operation Epic Fury against Iran.
"Tonight Iran's navy is gone, their air force is in ruins, their leaders, most of them… are now dead," he says.
Trump adds that Iran's ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed.
Trump started his address by congratulating the team at Nasa for the successful launch of Artemis II - and praising the "brave" crew travelling to the moon.
