Trump likens US air strikes on Iran to atomic bombing of Hiroshima

Donald Trump has likened the US strikes on Iran to his country’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan in the second world war.

Speaking at The Hague, Trump said: “They spent trillions of dollars trying to do this thing, and they didn’t come up with it, and we’re actually getting along with them very well right now.

“But had we not succeeded with that hit? That hit ended the war. That hit ended the war. I don’t want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don’t want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing that ended that war. This ended that, this ended that war. If we didn’t take that out, they would have been they’d be fighting right now.”

Speaking alongside the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, Donald Trump compared the US strikes on Iran to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, saying: ‘This was essentially the same thing: that ended that war; this ended the war.’

Trump’s comments came after a Pentagon report that said the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites only set the programme back by months. Trump has rejected these claims.

US President Donald Trump also said on Wednesday that the intelligence following the strikes on Iranian nuclear sites was inconclusive, but suggested the damage could have been severe.

“The intelligence was very inconclusive. The intelligence says we don’t know. It could’ve been very severe. That’s what the intelligence suggests,” Trump told reporters ahead of meeting with world leaders at a NATO summit.

“It was very severe. There was obliteration,” he added. In the same remarks, he had said the attack on Iran had been “devastating”.

According to Israeli government-run Kan Radio, IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Operation Rising Lion yielded significant achievements and struck a serious blow to Iran’s nuclear program.

“We met all the goals for the operation that were spelled out for us. Even better than we expected. I say this with all due modesty, because it is still too early to draw conclusions”, he said.

“We are [still] investigating and checking things out. [But I can say that] the IDF Intelligence Directorate and the IAF intelligence branch have proven themselves to be accurate these past few weeks. I can say right now that the estimate is that we struck a significant blow to [Iran’s] nuclear infrastructure. I can say that we pushed them years backward.”

Meanwhile, Iran executed three more prisoners on Wednesday over allegedly spying for Israel, its state-run IRNA news agency reported, the latest hangings connected to its war with Israel.

Iran identified the three men as Azad Shojaei, Edris Aali and Iraqi national Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul.

Iran is one of the world’s top executioners. After the brutal 1980s Iran-Iraq war, Iran carried out the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners and others, raising concerns among activists about a similar wave coming after the war with Israel.

The hangings happened in Urmia Prison in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province.