President Donald Trump celebrated the initial success of the 'Epic Fury Operation' against Iran on Monday, predicting the conflict would end within weeks while stating he had not ruled out deploying US ground troops "if necessary."

In an interview with the New York Post, Trump did not promise to completely avoid deploying ground troops following the weekend airstrikes targeting Iran's military and political leadership.

Trump told the New York Post, "As every president says, 'We will not be sending ground troops,' I am not afraid of sending ground troops. I do not say that." He added, "I say, 'We probably won't need them' or 'if necessary.'"

The president's remarks come after the US military carried out airstrikes on Saturday to "eliminate" Iran's leadership structure and prevent suspected nuclear activities.

President Trump said the operation was progressing faster than anticipated and had already achieved its main objectives.

"It's going to be over pretty quickly," President Trump told the New York Post, suggesting the conflict could end sooner than initially expected.

"In terms of leadership, it's going according to plan, or even much faster than planned. We have had 49 casualties, and it was expected to take at least four weeks, but we did it in one day," he said.

While President Trump told the Daily Mail on Sunday that he expected the war to last "about four weeks," on Monday he suggested the timeline could be shortened given the rapid progress.

"We will eliminate them," he added, "whatever it is, we will eliminate them, just like everything else."

The president stated that he ultimately decided on the airstrikes after diplomatic efforts in Geneva last week failed.

"We had very serious negotiations, and they showed up, and then they walked away," President Trump said, referring to the Iranian delegation. He suggested that US intelligence concluded Tehran was resuming nuclear activities in an undisclosed location.

"They were trying to build a nuclear weapon, so we destroyed them completely, but the facilities we destroyed were completely different. Because the facilities we destroyed were permanent facilities," President Trump told The Washington Post.

"They were going to use them, but as I said before, they were completely destroyed," he said. "Then we found out they were making nuclear weapons through enrichment in a completely different area, a completely different place. Now is the time."

"I said, 'Go,'" President Trump stated.

According to news agency photos released over the weekend, smoke could be seen rising from various parts of the city following alleged explosions in Tehran.

Despite concerns about potential retaliation, President Trump said he was not worried about Iran retaliating with terrorism.

When asked about domestic reactions, President Trump dismissed poll results showing limited public support for the military action.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted on Saturday and Sunday found that 27% of Americans supported the airstrikes, 43% opposed them, and 29% were unsure.

Similar meager support for a potential war with Iran was reflected in polls conducted before the operation.

"I think polls are good, but I don't care about polls," President Trump said, repeating twice, "I have to do the right thing," and adding, "This should have been done a long time ago."

The president argued that preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons was more important than the political risks or the possibility of a broader regional conflict.

He expressed confidence that the US could achieve its objectives without deploying ground troops but did not entirely rule out the possibility.

He reiterated that ground troops were "probably not going to be necessary" but made it clear they would be considered if needed.

While the White House did not release further details on the scope or duration of the operation, Trump's remarks suggest the administration is prepared to escalate its military response if military leadership deems it necessary, Newsmax reported.

US NNP=Sung Ku Hong, Chief Correspondent / Special Correspondent for this paper NNP info@newsandpost.com