Trump tells Politico Iran is running out of weapons

Investing.com -- President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Iran is running out of crucial armaments and that he would be open to working with some surviving members of the country’s ruling regime.

In a roughly four-minute phone call with Politico, Trump argued that Tehran’s military capacity is being steadily degraded, even as Iranian forces are expected to continue launching missiles.

"They’re running out and they’re running out of areas to shoot them, because they’re being decimated," Trump said. "They’re running out of launchers."

The president’s assertion had not been mentioned during a Monday Pentagon briefing or publicly by any other administration officials.

The president’s comments come as the U.S. and the Middle East brace for continued missile and drone attacks from Iran, which has retaliated in waves since the conflict erupted early on Saturday.

The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was attacked twice on Tuesday by unmanned aerial vehicles, causing part of the roof to collapse. The State Department confirmed that drones struck the building.

Trump said during the interview, "we have unlimited of the middle- and upper middle- ammunition and things. We save it and we build it."

"The defense companies are on a rapid tear to build the various things we need," he added. "They’re under emergency orders. We’re making it fast."

On Tuesday Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said there is a "potential desperate and disastrous shortage of THAAD and Patriot systems that are necessary to protect our embassies, our bases, our civilians."

Trump has suggested the war could last four or five weeks or be over in a few more days.

Trump said Tuesday he would be open to engaging with a reconfigured Iranian government if one emerges from the conflict.

Asked whether it is too late for him to consider working with someone in a new government, Trump replied, "Nope, not too late. 49 [senior Iranian leaders] were killed, don’t forget, so that goes pretty deep, right? New ones are emerging. A lot of people want the job. Some of them would be very good."

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