President Donald Trump, pushing again at the suggestion that the US was answerable for a lethal strike on an elementary faculty in Iran, claimed at a press conference Monday that Iran has Tomahawk cruise missiles. But Trump’s declare was instantly rejected by arms consultants.
There has by no means been a sign that Iran has any Tomahawks, that are made by US defense manufacturer Raytheon for the US army, topic to strict export controls and not the “generic” product Trump claimed Monday. Since the Nineteen Nineties, a small variety of US allies have been permitted by the US authorities to buy them; the checklist consists of the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and the Netherlands however not Israel or some other ally in the Middle East.
It definitely doesn’t embrace Iran, which has been an adversary of the US since the late Seventies.
“Iran definitely does not, repeat does not, have Tomahawks,” Jeffrey Lewis, distinguished scholar of worldwide safety at Middlebury College, mentioned in a textual content message Monday night.
“Astonishing bald faced lying. Childish,” tweeted retired US Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, a Trump critic, in response to the Trump declare.
Trump made the declare after a reporter advised him that video footage confirmed “a Tomahawk missile likely destroyed that Iranian girls’ school” and requested, “So will the Americans – will the US accept any responsibility?”
A video printed by a semi-official Iranian information company seems to indicate a US missile focusing on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval base adjoining to the faculty. It has not been definitively decided who struck the faculty itself, however analyses by NCS and different information shops have discovered the US was seemingly accountable.
Trump responded to the reporter: “Well, I haven’t seen it (the footage), and I will say that the Tomahawk, which is one of the most powerful weapons around, is used by, you know – is sold and used by – other countries. You know that. And whether it’s Iran, who also has some Tomahawks – they wish they had more. But whether it’s Iran or somebody else, the fact that a Tomahawk – a Tomahawk is very generic. It’s sold to other countries. But that’s being investigated right now.”
The US has not offered Tomahawks to Iran. Lewis mentioned that it’s attainable Trump was utilizing the phrase “Tomahawk” as a generic time period “like some people use ‘Kleenex,’ to mean any sort of cruise missile, but we have eyes” – and “we can clearly see,” he mentioned, that the missile in the video “doesn’t look like an Iranian cruise missile.”
N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of Armament Research Services, a consultancy, equally mentioned Monday that whereas Trump may need been utilizing “Tomahawk” to refer usually to long-range cruise missiles, “a limited number of which Iran does have,” the missile the video reveals hanging the IRGC base close to the faculty “is clearly a Tomahawk, rather than an Iranian design like the Soumar or Hoveyzeh.”
“Iran is not known to possess any RGM-/UGM-109 Tomahawk missiles,” Jenzen-Jones mentioned in an electronic mail, although he emphasised he doesn’t have entry to the intelligence Trump does.
If Iran had one way or the other obtained Tomahawks by means of some illicit means, that also wouldn’t imply it may use them. Jenzen-Jones mentioned he agreed with a New York Times report Monday that mentioned Iran “lacks the technical equipment and capabilities that are used to program their flight paths and upload that data into the missile’s onboard computer” and that “Iran would also have to be in possession of a launcher capable of firing a Tomahawk without damaging it.”
On Saturday, Trump claimed to reporters that “based on what I’ve seen,” the strike on the faculty “was done by Iran.” But Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was standing beside Trump, refused to say sure when requested if Trump was telling the reality; Hegseth mentioned the matter was below investigation.
When a reporter pressed Trump Monday on why he’s the solely individual in his administration to publicly speculate that Iran may need one way or the other obtained a Tomahawk and performed the strike on the faculty, Trump mentioned, confusingly, “Because I just don’t know enough about it.” He mentioned moments later, referring to the ongoing investigation, “But I will certainly – whatever the report shows, I’m willing to live with that report.”
Trump additionally spoke about the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial chokepoint for oil being transported from the Persian Gulf by ship. After Trump famous that the US is now providing threat insurance to grease tankers working in the Gulf, and mentioned “you have to keep the straits flowing,” he added, “With all of that, it affects other countries much more than it does the United States. It doesn’t really affect us. We have so much oil. We have tremendous oil and gas, much more than we need.”
It’s not true that “it doesn’t really affect us” – as many Americans filling up their fuel tanks in the previous week have realized. The sharp decline in traffic by means of the strait throughout the war, amid Iranian threats to assault ships that dare to cross, has been a major contributor to the sharp increase in global oil prices.
“While it is true that the US imports only modest quantities of oil from the Persian Gulf region, the broader picture is that U.S. fuel prices are inextricably tied to the global oil market. When oil prices go up, they go up for everyone – American drivers are not immune from that,” Pavel Molchanov, an power analyst at funding agency Raymond James, mentioned in a Monday electronic mail.
Asia is definitely much more depending on oil transported by means of the Strait of Hormuz than the US is. The US Energy Information Administration estimated that in 2024, 84% of the crude oil and condensate and 83% of the liquefied pure fuel that went by means of the strait went to Asian markets.
But even apart from US fuel costs, the US financial system is broadly intertwined with Asian economies. An issue causing economic problems in Asian countries impacts American companies, employees and shoppers, too.
As NCS’s Aaron Blake noted Monday, Trump repeatedly contradicted himself in different remarks at the press convention.
At one level, Trump claimed, “We’ve wiped every single force in Iran out, very completely,” however then claimed in the very subsequent sentence that “most” – not all – of Iran’s naval energy had been sunk. He went on to assert there had been an “over 90% decline in the Iranian missile launchers” and an “83% drop in drone launchers,” once more not a complete wipeout. (Definitive impartial knowledge on these claims will not be obtainable.)
Trump additionally mentioned, “Look, everything they have is gone, including their leadership.” Then he mentioned instantly after: “In fact, there are two levels of leadership – and even actually, as it turns out, more than that – but two levels of leadership are gone. Most people have never even heard about the leaders that they’re talking about.”
But Iranians and observers of the nation have definitely heard of the newly appointed supreme chief Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the former supreme chief, Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the starting of the war. And Iran’s governing regime continues to function even after the dying of Ali Khamenei and different high officers.