Trump Explains Reasons for Deploying Military in State of the Union Address
US President Donald Trump mentioned Iran in his State of the Union address to the US Congress on Tuesday (February 24th) local time. Trump explained why he had deployed US military assets on a large scale around Iran in recent times.
This State of the Union address was delivered as tensions between the US and Iran continue to escalate, with war between the two countries predicted to be imminent.
In his speech, as reported by CNN on Wednesday (February 25th, 2026), Trump said that his goal is to ensure that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons. However, Trump did not provide a complete explanation of his strategic objectives in threatening Tehran with war.
“They (Iran) want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those magic words: We will never have nuclear weapons,” Trump said in a relatively short section of his speech about Iran.
He reiterated that his choice is to pursue diplomacy.
Although, in recent times, the US has deployed two of its aircraft carriers to the Middle East. The USS Abraham Lincoln has been in the region, while the USS Gerald R Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, has arrived at a US base in Souda Bay, Greece.
In his State of the Union address, Trump insisted that Iran is still trying to advance its nuclear program, even after this US President claimed that a US bombing in June last year had “destroyed Iran’s nuclear weapons program”.
“They have been warned not to make any further attempts to rebuild their weapons program, especially nuclear weapons. But they continue to do so, starting from scratch,” he said.
“We have destroyed it, and they want to start it again. And now again, they are pursuing their evil ambitions,” he said.
Iran has repeatedly stated clearly that it is not developing nuclear bombs. On Tuesday (February 24th) local time, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi explicitly reiterated that Tehran is not developing nuclear bombs.
“Our fundamental belief is very clear: Iran, under any circumstances, will never develop nuclear weapons,” Araghchi said in a recent statement via social media X.
Araghchi is leading the Iranian delegation in ongoing nuclear negotiations with the US, with the latest round scheduled for Thursday (February 26th) in Geneva, Switzerland. Oman is acting as a mediator in the indirect talks between the two countries.
Many countries doubt Iran’s honesty when it denies developing nuclear weapons. In the past, Tehran has enriched uranium to a level that is only one step away from producing weapons-grade material.