President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used remarks at the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on Friday to defend the US-Israel war on Iran, tying the conflict to the legacy of the 2001 attacks.
Ceremonies on September 11 usually center on the roughly 3,000 people killed when hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. At the Pentagon, both men instead pointed to the war they launched on Iran more than six months ago, which has no clear end.
The framing linked the deadliest terrorist attack on US soil to a current military campaign that has drawn domestic criticism. The conflict began earlier in the year and has continued through repeated exchanges of fire.
Trump has spent months escalating pressure on Tehran. Earlier reporting documented how he moved from weighing a large-scale strike to ordering direct military action, at one point pausing operations before resuming them.
The Iran campaign has proceeded in phases. US forces halted strikes for a second consecutive night at one stage, with officials citing depleted munitions, before Washington resumed operations.
Across the country, Americans paused to commemorate the victims. In New York, families of those killed gathered at ground zero, many holding photographs of their loved ones.
Vice-President J.D. Vance joined four former US presidents at the Lower Manhattan ceremony. Relatives read the names of the dead in the annual reading that anchors the New York observance.
The 25th anniversary carried added weight for survivors and bereaved families a quarter-century after the attacks. Commemorations were also held at the Pentagon and at the Pennsylvania memorial marking the crash of United Flight 93.
The Iran war remains a point of division in US politics, and the decision to raise it during a memorial ceremony drew attention to the ongoing military commitment.
Anniversary events are scheduled to continue at each of the three attack sites through the day.