US President Donald Trump has said that Iran will be hit “very badly” over the next three weeks if there is no “peace deal”, while adding that the crucial Strait of Hormuz would reopen naturally after the conflict, indicating that opening the key waterway—critical for global crude oil and gas supplies—is not a military objective now.In an “address to the nation” on Wednesday night in the US (early Thursday in India), Trump described the ongoing operation ‘Epic Fury’ against Iran, saying, “We are on track to complete all military objectives shortly. Very shortly. We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.”He added that the US would continue operations until its objectives are fully achieved. “We are going to bring them back to the Stone Age where they belong. During this period, if a deal is not made, the US has eyes on key targets. If there is no deal, we are going to hit every one of their electric generating plants—very hard and probably simultaneously,” Trump said.Discussions are ongoing, Trump added.Iran’s Foreign Minister, Sayed Abbas Araghchi, had yesterday acknowledged receiving direct messages from Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff,.On Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has triggered a spike in crude oil and gas prices, Trump criticised nations who source oil from the Persian Gulf saying “go to the Strait and just take it, use it for yourself…the hard part is done, so it should be easy,” he said.“In any case, when this conflict is over, the Strait will open up naturally. It’ll just open up naturally. So, to those countries that can’t get fuel, buy oil from the US. We have plenty,” he added.On Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, Trump said, “If Iran tries to get near the nuclear dust (enriched uranium), we have it under intense satellite surveillance and control. If we see them make a move—even a small move—we will hit them very hard.”On the Iranian regime, Trump said, “Regime change was not our goal—we never said that—but regime change has occurred. Most of their leaders are now dead. Command and control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is gone or being decimated. The new group is less radical and much more reasonable.”He said the US had not targeted Iran’s oil infrastructure, despite it being an easy target, because doing so would eliminate even a minimal chance of survival or rebuilding.Trump accused the Iranian regime of continuing its pursuit of nuclear weapons while rejecting diplomatic efforts. “They had no intention of abandoning their program. They were also rapidly building a stockpile of conventional and ballistic missiles, with the longest range possible,” he said.Addressing his domestic audience, Trump said that the US had been involved in World War I and World War II for years. The operation ‘Epic Fury’ was necessary for the safety of the US and the security of the free world, he said.He also acknowledged concerns among Americans about rising gas prices. “The recent rise in gas prices is entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching attacks on commercial oil tankers and neighbouring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict,” the US President said.