Cecilia Lei

Iran's armed forces have been severely depleted, according to official figures, but its missiles are still flying into Israel and neighboring Gulf countries.

As for the bomb, Iran's capabilities appear to have been rolled back significantly.

But the U.N.

's watchdog agency believes Iran still possesses hundreds of pounds of uranium underground, and defense experts believe a mission to recover it could be extremely risky.

Trump indicated he was happy to leave it in the ground.

He also emphasized that all objectives would be met, quote, shortly, though he offered no clear timeline for the U.S.

to complete its operations in Iran.

And as he's done several times over the past couple of weeks, Trump promised both a winding down and a dramatic escalation.

But so far, talks have yielded no results, at least publicly.

And in his threats of escalation, Trump repeated going after Iran's key infrastructure.

Iran's decision to choke the Strait of Hormuz has thrown the world into economic turmoil.

But Trump did not say much about its future, except to offer this advice for allied countries.

Gas prices have risen steadily in the U.S.

since the Strait was closed, and leading economic figures have warned of sustained global damage if nothing changes soon.

Meanwhile, forcing the Strait open would be a complex military challenge, and no country has shown any enthusiasm for it so far.

Brett McGurk is a diplomat who served the previous five administrations.

He told CNN Trump's position left the door open to Iran emerging from the war with a major strategic asset.

Trump initially said the war was a four-week process.

That was a month ago.

And since then, polling suggests that a majority of the American public has become increasingly skeptical.