War starts right now, say Iranian forces, but will that happen?

LONDON – The US strikes on Iran’s nuclear installations had devastated its nuclear programmes, but the mission, code-named Operation Midnight Hammer, did not target Iranian troops or the country’s people, said US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Mr Hegseth, in the first media briefing by the Pentagon on June 22 following the strikes, was thus emphasising a point made by President Donald Trump from the start of the operation: The United States does not want its strike on Iran’s nuclear sites to be interpreted as the start of a broader American military engagement in the Middle East.