Arabic version: ترامب يربط حرب إيران بذكرى هجمات 11 سبتمبر
According to The Guardian, President Donald Trump used a Pentagon ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks to defend his administration’s ongoing war in Iran. The attacks killed almost 3,000 people in New York City, Washington DC and Pennsylvania.
Trump praised people who served in the war on terror and service members working “right now” to ensure that Iran “will never ever have a nuclear weapon.” He later said the United States was renewing a “sacred oath” first sworn in the names of those killed 25 years ago, adding: “That’s why we fight today. We don’t have a choice. There can only be victory. We fight hard. We fight to win.”
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth also connected the conflict with Iran to the legacy of 9/11. He described the Iran war as part of a fight against an “Islamic theocracy” and said Iran’s defenses “are gone.” Hegseth said the US was still sending terrorists “where they belong – to hell” and tankers “to the bottom of the ocean,” while ensuring Iran would not have a nuclear weapon.
Memorial events were held across the country. At the World Trade Center ceremony in New York, Michael Massaroli Jr, whose father worked at Cantor Fitzgerald, urged people not to use the tragedy “to spread hate.” He said the victims were not honored by hatred toward Muslim people or people who look different.
In Pennsylvania, the Flight 93 National Memorial held an observance including a reading of passengers’ and crew members’ names and bells of remembrance. New York City’s Bryant Park placed 2,753 empty chairs on its lawn to represent people killed in the attacks, with visitors able to attach notes to carnations and place them on chairs.
