Washington DC [US], March 18 (ANI): US President Donald Trump on Tuesday described the ongoing US-Israel military operations against Iran as 'proceeding very well,' warning that Tehran must not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons and that it would take atleast a decade to rebuild whatever has been destroyed in the course of bombing across the region.

'The war is proceeding very well... We can't let them have a nuclear weapon... They would have used it very gladly... We did a good job... Every time you see somebody with no legs, no arms, a face that's been really so badly damaged, lives destroyed, 95% chance it came right out of Iran,' Trump said.

Trump further said that it would take ten years to rebuild the damage that had been done to Iran. He added that he believes measures need to be made more permanent so that no other president has to face the same situation. 'We have a country that was hotter than any country anywhere in the world... They could leave today, and it would take 10 years to rebuild the damage that's been done. But I think we have to make it a little bit more permanent so that no other President has to go through this,' he said.

Meanwhile, US Vice President JD Vance reinforced the administration's stance, pointing to the threat from regional militias and terrorist groups. 'There have been a lot of militia attacks against our base or our embassy in Iran... There are a lot of terrorists in that region of the world, and we've got to eliminate them when we find them,' Vance said.

The comments come as US and Israeli forces continue targeted strikes against Iranian military infrastructure and missile sites.

Meanwhile, the United States carried out strikes using 'multiple 5,000-pound (2267 kg) deep penetrator munitions' on Iran, targeting 'hardened Iranian missile sites' along its coastline near the Strait of Hormuz.

In a post shared on X, U.S. Central Command wrote, 'Hours ago, U.S. forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran's coastline near the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the strait.' (ANI)