President Trump calls Iran conflict “a relatively little war”
Here is the latest –
- President Trump told Fox News on Monday that the U.S. would hit Iran hard in retaliation for the Islamic Republic targeting U.S. forces, unsuccessfully, in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
- Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted U.S. military bases in the two Middle Eastern nations in response to the first American strikes on Iran in weeks. U.S. Central Command announced an attack Sunday on what it said were Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, in the Strait of Hormuz.
- The flare-up of fighting in the six-month war comes after the Trump administration announced a shift in strategy last week to “economic warfare,” heaping pressure on Iran with new sanctions in an attempt to break the stalemate in the conflict.
Trump calls Iran conflict “a relatively little war” as he weighs new strikes
President Trump called the Iran conflict “a relatively little war” for the U.S. as he weighed additional strikes on the country.
CBS News’ Weijia Jiang asked Mr. Trump in the Oval Office about a Washington Post report that several U.S. military leaders are concerned about a prolonged operation in the Middle East weakening Washington’s ability to confront threats elsewhere.
Mr. Trump disputed the concerns. “This is a relatively little war for us. This is not a big war,” the president said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump is considering carrying out new strikes on Iran following hostilities over the weekend.
“They’re a failed nation,” Mr. Trump said of Iran. He later added, “That doesn’t mean we won’t smack them. We’ll see what happens.”
2 women in Iran sentenced to death over protests, rights groups say
Iranian courts have issued death sentences for two women charged over anti-government protests in January, rights groups said Monday, as Tehran ramps up executions of people arrested in the demonstrations.
The two women were sentenced in separate cases but both were related to incidents in the central city of Isfahan, which was a hub of the nationwide protest activity that peaked on the nights of Jan. 8 and 9.
Against the backdrop of the war, Iran has already executed 29 men on charges related to the demonstrations, according to the Norway-based nongovernmental organization Iran Human Rights.
So far, no woman has been executed over the unrest, although Iran has hanged at least 16 women this year on other charges, according to Iran Human Rights.
Taraneh Rahimi, 20, was sentenced to death along with nine men over incidents during the protests in a square in Isfahan that saw two people killed, including a member of the security forces, the Norway-based Hengaw group and U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said Monday.
Other defendants in the case were given sentences of up to 36 years in prison, including Taraneh’s sister Romina, they added.
“Defendants’ lawyers did not have access to a substantial portion of the case file and objected that they had not been given sufficient time to review the documents and evidence,” Human Rights Activists News Agency said.
In the other case, Leila Abolhasani, a 43-year-old mother of two teenagers, was convicted by a court in Isfahan of setting fire to a store during the protests, the Dadban legal affairs monitor and Human Rights Activists News Agency said.
Her relatives have denied the accusation, saying she was only present at the scene and was filming the burning store, the groups said.
CBS
