Kentucky, March 12 -- US president Trump on Wednesday (local time) claimed that military operations over the past 11 days had severely weakened Iran's military capabilities. He said that American forces had "virtually destroyed" key elements of the country's defence infrastructure.

"Over the past 11 days, our military has virtually destroyed Iran. Tough country," Trump said while addressing a gathering here. Describing the Persian Gulf country as "tough", he asserted that its core military systems had been "virtually destroyed".

The US president claimed Iran's defence network had been neutralised within hours of the operation beginning.

"Their air force is gone. That took the better part of about three hours. They no longer have radar....