WHY IS THERE AN IRAN WAR? The U.S.-Israeli war against Iran is now in its 11th week. During that time, President Donald Trump and top administration officials have given varying reasons for it. Last week, for example, Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that “Operation Epic Fury,” the initial attack that began on Feb. 28, had ended, and the United States had moved on to an effort to rescue the roughly 23,000 crew members on ships trapped in the Strait of Hormuz. That plan, dubbed “Project Freedom,” did not last long but might return at any moment.Now, Trump appears to be getting back to basics. Why did the U.S. go to war in Iran in the first place? The reason is one that Trump has said many times in the past: Iran must not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. That’s it. Everything else is an add-on. Trump said some variation of that a number of times at the White House on Tuesday before he left to begin his trip to China. Some examples:
“Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. They will not have a nuclear weapon … They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.”
“The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon … We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, that’s all.”
