President Trump on Tuesday acknowledged that the US bombed Iran’s Qeshm Island on Monday and said that the US struck an anti-aircraft “facility” that it watched get built for two months.
The president made the comments about the strike, which he downplayed as a “minor attack,” during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” as he repeated his typical talking points about the war.
“They have no Navy. They had 159 ships — Every ship is at the bottom of the sea, every airplane is laying on small pieces, tiny pieces all over the runway,” he said, referring to Iran.
“No anti-aircraft, we took some out last night. Minor attack, wasn’t war. They built an anti-aircraft facility, it took them about two months. We watched it get built. We hit it last night nicely, not big war,” Trump added.
The president’s comments suggest the US strikes on Qeshm were more planned out than US officials made out in their comments to media outlets. A US official told Axios reporter Barak Ravid that Iran’s IRGC fired a missile at a US aircraft in the Strait of Hormuz and that the US bombed a missile launcher in response.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that the strikes were carried out by the US and cited an official who said the US has been conducting small-scale strikes against Iran for several weeks. Tehran has remained quiet about the US attacks but has continued striking commercial vessels and taking down US drones.
On Tuesday, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi referenced the strikes, though he didn’t explicitly blame the US. He said that the bombings demonstrate that Iran is still in a state of war and that the country has the right to self-defense. “The Islamic Republic of Iran retains the right to legitimate self-defense until the military aggression has been completely and permanently brought to an end,” he said.
In his interview on Tuesday, Trump also threatened to restart the full-scale bombing campaign against Iran, saying that he may have to “kill lots of people,” though he would prefer not to. “I’m not looking to kill lots of people, if we have to, we have to, but I’m not looking to do that,” he said.
