BBC's Jeremy Bowen Demolishes Donald Trump's Latest Iran War Claims: 'There's No Evidence'
The BBC’s top Middle East expert has demolished Donald Trump’s latest claims about the war in Iran.
Jeremy Bowen, the broadcaster’s international affairs editor, said there was “no evidence” for some of the things the US president is saying.
Bowen said Trump had been “rather spooked by the economic consequences thus far of the war” after a spike in oil prices raised fears of a global crisis.
“He’s trying to calm the markets a little bit, he’s shaping the victory he’s going to claim,” said Bowen.
“He’s still actually claiming erroneously that Iran was a few weeks away from getting a nuclear weapon – there’s no evidence for that.
“He’s also said that Iran has Tomahawk cruise missiles that could have destroyed that girls’ school where so many were killed. There’s no evidence for that either because they’ve only sold them to Britain and Australia.”
Bowen also disputed Trump’s claims that the war is “very complete, pretty much”, and warned that the potential consequences for the whole Middle East are huge.
He said: “In terms of the wider region, if what’s happening subsequently causes chaos and breakdown in Iran, and right now the regime appears to be surviving, that will be immensely dangerous regionally.”
Iran has also disputed Trump’s claims that the war is nearing its end.
A spokesperson from the IRGC – Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps – said: “It is we who will determine the end of the war.
“The equations and future status of the region are now in the hands of our armed forces; American forces will not end the war.”