President Donald Trump said the United States struck Iran last night and dismissed the operation as "just a minor attack." Trump argued that the operation does not amount to a war and set a high bar for the term. "War would be the Second World War," he said.
"Not a war"
Trump Calls Iran Strike 'Minor Attack'
The president said the operation was not a war, after telling CBS on Monday that US forces had not fought Iran for months.
On Monday, the eve of Tuesday's midterm elections, Trump told CBS that the Iran situation was not a war. "We haven't been doing any fighting for months," he said. After his closing campaign speech at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a White House pool reporter asked whether he would launch strikes on Iran once the vote was over. Trump answered "No." In the same speech he declared, "We had a war with Iran. We won."
The administration had been split over its next step. Axios reported on Monday that CIA Director John Ratcliffe had urged Trump to avoid both a new military campaign and a hasty agreement with Tehran, and to keep up economic pressure instead. His approach was summed up as "no war, no deal." Trump told the outlet he had set no timetable for deciding on military action. "One way or the other, we will do something, but there is no rush," he said.
Tehran had also widened its threats. On Tuesday, Kayhan, the newspaper regarded as the regime's mouthpiece, declared that American, Israeli and NATO facilities as far as "the heart of Europe" are within range of Iran's precision missiles. It named US and NATO military sites in Britain, Italy, Greece, Romania, Albania and Cyprus as potential targets if the war resumes.
