Washington, Aug 27: When President Donald Trump launched the war with Iran in late February, he initially forecast it would last four to five weeks. Six months later, there’s still no off-ramp in sight despite Trump’s repeated assertions that the war has been won or a deal to resolve it was nearly complete.

A June memorandum of understanding designed to pave the way to end the war has fallen by the wayside. US stockpiles of key weapons have diminished and the Trump administration has pivoted to pressuring Iran economically rather than launching more strikes.

As the shape of the war has morphed over the last half year, so have the goals for the conflict.

One of the prime goals now — reopening the Strait of Hormuz — was not one of Trump’s original objectives. The waterway had been a vital shipping lane through which about 20% of the world’s oil passed.

But Iran seized on it as a chokepoint for the global economy and it has been largely closed since the war started, driving up prices for fuel and fertilizer needed for farms and creating economic and political pressure in the US

The US has had tactical success on its goals to degrade Iran’s military capabilities. But some of the other key objectives Trump laid out at the start of the conflict remain unfulfilled — and others have shifted.

Here’s a look at the objectives and what we know about where they stand:

Stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon

Last June, Trump declared that the US had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program. But when the war started, his aides justified the strikes by warning that Iran had been just weeks away from developing a bomb.

One of the most pressing questions has been what will be done with a stockpile of about 970 pounds (440 kilograms) of enriched uranium that Tehran could potentially use for a weapon. The material is believed to be buried under three sites bombed by the US and Israel last year. Trump said in a May 29 social media post that it would be retrieved by the US “in close coordination and conjunction with the Islamic Republic of Iran, plus the International Atomic Energy Agency, and DESTROYED.”

Iran has not said whether it would consent. Without permission from Iran, experts have said seizing it would be a dangerous mission requiring a sizable deployment of US troops into the country.

Officials said that Tehran reaffirmed in the June memorandum of understanding that it would not procure or develop nuclear weapons. The deal called for Iran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. But many other details about Iran’s program were left for future negotiations, and it’s unclear how much progress, if any, was made before talks quickly fell off.

Reopen the Strait of Hormuz

Trump has said that a proposed deal with Iran would include the reopening of the strait and the US ending its blockade of Tehran’s ports, but at other times he has suggested the international waterway would somehow become American territory and indicated the US could impose a toll on passing ships.

Trump also has repeatedly said that the strait is open, including during an interview on Wednesday on conservative commentator Glenn Beck’s radio show.

“It’s a functioning strait. Yes, every once in a while, there’ll be a drone or a rocket or something shot, but it is a very functioning strait,” Trump said.

Destroy Iran’s ability to fire missiles

One of the prime objectives laid out by the administration was to “destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground.”

Trump said in late March that Iran’s missiles “are mostly decimated” and that 90% of their missiles and launchers were knocked out.

By mid-May, that shifted to a more conservative estimate, with the president saying that 82% of Iran’s missiles were gone.

Iran has shown its ability to still launch attacks in the region, including drone strikes on ships sailing through the strait.

As recently as July, the US military still had Iranian military targets to strike, with its Central Command announcing it was striking “Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and communications networks.”

Destroy Iran’s defense industrial base

Early in the war, the president and his administration sometimes listed this as a standalone objective. Other times, it has fallen off their list.

US Central Command has said its targets for strikes in Iran have included weapons production and missile and drone manufacturing facilities.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers in early June that Iran has had “massive destruction” of its defense industrial base and “80 to 90% of attrition. It will take years for them to rebuild it.”

Eliminate Iran’s navy and air force

The US and Israel quickly established air superiority in the skies above Iran, where they flew largely unchallenged.

Rubio told lawmakers that Iran still has drone capabilities, but it lacks the ability to use swarms of drones to attack targets, as it did at the start of the war. He also said Iran does not have a navy anymore, and relies on small craft outfitted with machine guns that harass ships and sometimes drop mines in the water.

Trump on Wednesday said that Iran’s navy and air force are “totally gone.”

Protect America’s Middle Eastern allies

Trump, in a March social media post, added another objective for the US: “Protecting, at the highest level, our Middle Eastern Allies, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and others.”

The US maintains thousands of troops on bases and other installations in the region, but Trump has been unclear on how far he’d be willing to go to protect Middle East allies from threats in the long term. In June, when the US said Iran fired missiles at Kuwait and Bahrain, the US launched strikes on Iran in response.

But one ally — Oman — has notably not been feeling the warmth of Trump’s offer of protection, and instead has grappled with Trump’s wrath over the deal it was negotiating with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz. In mid-August, he threatened in an interview that the US would bomb Oman if it “gets in the way,” using an expletive for emphasis.

Cut off support for Iranian proxy groups

In March, Trump and his administration repeatedly said degrading Iran’s proxy terror networks was a key goal.

As time has gone on, administration officials have offered fewer updates about this objective, which the president described as ensuring that “the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces” and “ensuring that the Iranian regime cannot continue to arm, fund, and direct terrorist armies outside of their borders.”

Early on, the US struck Iranian-aligned militia groups in Iraq. But the biggest focus has been Israel’s war in Lebanon against Hezbollah, which Iran backs. Iran has insisted that the fighting in Lebanon must be stopped as part of any deal with the US Israel and the Lebanese government announced a deal, which was mediated by the US, for Israeli forces to leave southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah’s disarmament — something an administration official described as a “huge step,” speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to address the issue on the record. But the militant group has refused direct talks and its leader has said it will not disarm.

Washington, Aug 27: The Nepal flash floods were triggered by a glacial collapse and not by a 4.4 magnitude earthquake as reported earlier, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The USGS said additional analysis of the long-period seismic waves indicated that the tremors were generated by a glacial collapse and debris flow.

The flash floods originating in Tibet on Wednesday left a trail of death and destruction in Rasuwa and Dhading districts of Nepal, killing 162 people and leaving 750, including 133 Indian nationals, missing.

“This event was initially reported as a magnitude 4.4 earthquake. Additional analysis of nearby seismic stations, long period seismic waves, and satellite imagery led to the determination that the seismic event was instead a glacial collapse and debris flow, and that no earthquake had occurred,” the USGS said in an update to its note on the event.

It also upgraded the magnitude of the seismic event to 5.2 from the 4.4 assessed earlier.

“The USGS determined that the seismic event was a glacial collapse and debris flow that caused subsequent catastrophic impacts downstream,” it said.

Daniel Shugar, an Associate Professor of geomorphology at the University of Calgary in Canada said the flash floods were triggered by a glacier that rolled off a cliff at 5,200 meters.

Shugar compared the satellite images of the region taken on Wednesday and Tuesday, a day before the natural disaster struck Nepal.

“Comparing satellite imagery from yesterday and today, the glaciers in the vicinity do seem to have lost a fair bit of snow in the last 24 hours,” Shugar was quoted as saying by the New Scientist magazine.

“My guess is that snow melt, and glacier ice melt as well, injected a lot of liquid water into the glacier, which percolated down to the bed and lubricated it. That was enough for it to collapse,” he said.

Kathmandu, Aug 26: Nearly 160 people were killed and over 750, including 133 Indian nationals, remain missing after a massive flash flood originating in Tibet swept through central Nepal on Wednesday, devastating several towns and villages, washing away critical bridges, and crippling a dozen hydropower projects.

Nepal Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal told the parliament that an earthquake hit the Tibet region at 8:37 am (local time) and the flash floods were reported three minutes later, suggesting the tremors may have caused a glacial outburst which triggered the floods.

The flood surged through the Bhote Koshi River affecting Rasuwa and Dhading districts bordering Tibet, officials said.

The massive flood entered the Trishuli River through the Bhote Koshi in Timure, a border-town in Rasuwa district, due to the rockslide and swelling of the Lhende River situated along the Nepal-Tibet border, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said.

It then spread along the river course to other districts like Nuwakot, Chitawan, Gorkha, Tanahu and Nawalparasi East, covering areas ranging from around 70 km to nearly 200 km from capital Kathmandu.

The Nepal Police in a social media post said 157 people died in the flash flood that hit the Himalayan nation.

The Nepal government said around 500 were missing, while China’s state-run CGTN news channel said three people were dead and 265 were missing on the Chinese side of the border.

Videos from the affected areas showed a powerful surge of muddy water, rocks and debris sweeping through the border region, with people seen fleeing as the torrent moved towards buildings and vehicles.

In one clip, a four-storey structure could be seen being swept away by the raging waters, while another showed a car floating in fast-moving floodwaters in Rasuwa. Another video clip showed a long bridge broken into two by the sheer force of water.

Other video clips showed bridges being pounded by powerful currents before collapsing and being swept away.

In Dhading district, a video showed floodwaters striking a bridge before the structure collapsed and was carried away.

Another video showed muddy water rapidly engulfing a bridge and sweeping it away in about 30 seconds.

Around 100 people have been rescued from different parts of the affected areas, officials said. Of them, 30 are undergoing treatment at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to his Nepalese counterpart Balendra Shah and assured him of all possible humanitarian assistance to deal with the situation. New Delhi has already sent the first tranche of relief supplies to the neighbouring nation.

The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu issued emergency numbers for assistance and information related to Indian nationals affected by the flash floods. In a post on X, it said people can contact +977 985 131 6807 or +977 970 910 7500.

The Embassy of India has remained engaged with the relevant authorities of the Government of Nepal for early rescue and relief for Indian nationals affected by the flash floods that took place in Nepal, it said in another post on X, adding rescue and relief efforts continue to be strengthened in coordination with the Nepal government.

The Nepal Tourism Board also issued similar numbers, including the toll-free emergency number 1234, hotline 1144 and Tourist Police number 9851289445 for help.

In Beijing, the Embassy of India also issued a helpline number 0086 185 1428 4905, which can also be contacted through WhatsApp.

At least 133 Indians and 37 NRIs are among the nearly 500 persons missing, officials said.

At least 50 of the Indians were pilgrims for the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra

Isha Foundation, a non-profit organisation based out of India, said 77 of its members who were at an immigration centre were missing.

“There has been no official information on the whereabouts of any of the people who were at the immigration office,” said its founder Sadhguru, adding that 495 people have returned safely.

The Nepal government later said the entire staff of that particular immigration centre are out of contact. Thirty-seven missing tourists are from Thanjavur, authorities in Tamil Nadu said.

Several other Indian states – including Uttar Pradesh and Kerala – issued helpline numbers as well, fearing their residents could be among the stranded ones in Nepal.

Other than the Indians and NRIs, the remaining missing tourists were from more than two dozen countries including the US, Malaysia, the UK, South Africa, Australia and the Netherlands.

Over and above that, 80 security personnel, including 44 Nepal Army personnel, have gone missing across various locations, Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal informed the House of Representatives.

The flash flood damaged eight operational hydropower projects with a total capacity of 354 MW and five under-construction projects located in Nuwakot and Rasuwa districts, according to a statement by the Independent Power Producers’ Association Nepal (IPPAN).

The major operational hydropower projects damaged by the floods include Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project (111 MW), Sanjen Khola Hydropower Project (78 MW) and Upper Trishuli 3A (60 MW).

According to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Wednesday’s flooding was not caused by rainfall in Rasuwa.

Nepal’s Flood Forecasting Division said in a post on X in the afternoon: “According to information received from the Chinese side, since the lake at the river blockage site has not yet been fully drained, the risk remains in the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli areas” and asked people to stay away from the rivers and remain in safe places.

“Even though the lake has not been fully drained at the site where the river is blocked, the risk persists in the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli areas, and people are urged to stay away from the river and remain in safe locations until the next update is issued,” the NDRRMA said in a post on X later in the day.

The Kathmandu Post said flooding in the Bhote Koshi River washed away the 42-km road linking Betrawati in Nuwakot with the Rasuwagadhi border crossing in Rasuwa.

The government later said 19 motorable bridges were washed away in the flash floods on Wednesday.

Nepal Army, Armed Police Force and Nepal Police personnel were mobilised in the affected areas to carry out rescue and relief work after an emergency meeting chaired by Nepal PM Shah to assess the situation.

Extending condolences to those who lost life and sympathy to the bereaved family members, Shah wished for speedy recovery of those injured in the tragic incidents, according to a statement released by the government.

He directed officials to provide all necessary assistance to those affected.

The Nepal Army mobilised 12 helicopters to conduct search and rescue operations after the flash flood. Six people were rescued from Syaphrubesi, two from Mailung and four from Dhunche, all in Rasuwa district, according to a Nepal Army statement.

The Nepal Army has also established a treatment centre at the Military Training Centre No 1 in Trishuli, where medical personnel from the army are providing emergency medical treatment to affected people, the statement said.

An Army MI-17 helicopter equipped with an Emergency Medical Rescue Team was also mobilised towards the district hospital in Trishuli, it added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday ordered all-out efforts to search for and rescue people missing after the devastating flash floods.

A total of 145 officers and soldiers from the Xigaze detachment of the People’s Armed Police have been sent to the affected border port to assist with emergency response operations.

Xi called for efforts to evacuate residents at risk and provide timely medical treatment to the injured to minimise casualties. Xi also stressed the need to strengthen monitoring and early warning, ensure scientific rescue operations and guard against secondary disasters.

State-run Global Times reported that the local government had dispatched personnel to the disaster-hit area, where communications had been cut off.

Nepalese President Ramchandra Paudel expressed sorrow over the loss of life and property due to the flash flood in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts.

Last year too, two catastrophic floods hit Bhote Koshi, wreaking havoc in Rasuwa and killing at least 10 people.

Late in the evening, Prime Minister Shah thanked Prime Minister Modi for his “warm words of solidarity” and offering all possible humanitarian assistance to the flood-hit country for the rescue and relief operations.