President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a September 11 commemoration ceremony to directly link the ongoing Iran war to the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Both officials framed the conflict with Iran as a continuation of the broader war on terror that began in the weeks following the September 11 attacks twenty-five years ago.
Trump addressed the Pentagon audience with a pointed reference to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, drawing applause from those gathered for the solemn ceremony.
“We salute the service members working right now to ensure the world’s number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will never ever have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said to applause from the audience at the ceremony.
Hegseth spoke before the president and took an even more direct tone, connecting Iran’s theocratic government to decades of hostility toward the United States and its military personnel.
“Our warriors have fought an Islamic theocracy that has wished us death for nearly half a century, that cheered on 9/11,” he said. “A regime that has sponsored terrorist attacks against Americans for decades, killing thousands, including our comrades in Iraq and Afghanistan. But they did not factor in this president.”
Hegseth made clear the administration views current military operations against Iran as an extension of the counterterrorism mission that defined U.S. foreign policy for two decades following 9/11.
“We’re still sending terrorists where they belong — to hell — and tankers to the bottom of the ocean, where they belong,” Hegseth added. “And we are ensuring that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”
The Defense Secretary also reiterated that the United States now controls the Strait of Hormuz and has effectively destroyed Iran’s naval capabilities during the conflict.
The global war on terror was declared shortly after the September 11 attacks and lasted nearly twenty years, with its primary focus on dismantling al Qaeda militant networks across multiple regions.
The U.S. military completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, formally closing the longest chapter of post-9/11 military engagement in American history.
The Iran war has now passed its six-month mark, and Trump offered a timeline for when he expects the conflict to conclude, pointing to the upcoming November midterm elections as a key milestone.
Trump told reporters earlier this week that he anticipates the war will “end immediately” after the midterms, suggesting domestic political momentum could accelerate a resolution.
“They can’t hold out any longer,” Trump told reporters of Iran, indicating confidence that Iranian leadership is under significant pressure from the sustained military campaign.
The remarks signal that the administration intends to keep public framing of the Iran conflict closely tied to the emotional and political legacy of the September 11 attacks throughout the election season.
