US President Donald Trump on Wednesday declared “Mission Accomplished” in Iran even as the unpopular and costly war drags on with no end in sight and no sign that the United States is close to achieving any of the lofty goals he set for the conflict.
Trump posted an image of himself along with Iran’s slain former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei against a stylised landscape background of punishing US air and missile attacks.
“2026 Mission Accomplished”, a caption reads.
The slogan evokes former President George W. Bush’s infamous speech about the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, a conflict that continued for years afterwards.
Trump even included a photo of Bush in the image with the caption “Mission not accomplished 2001-21”.
Bush’s 2003 remarks were made aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in front of a “Mission Accomplished” banner.