WASHINGTON, March 19. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump referred to the 1941 Japanese attack on a US naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, when asked to comment on the surprise launch of Washington’s operation against Iran.
During a White House meeting between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a Japanese reporter asked the US president why he had not informed Tokyo and European allies of plans to attack Iran. "We didn't tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise," Trump noted. "Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?" he added, addressing Takaichi.
Japan attacked US military installations in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. It was after the attack that the US joined World War II on the side of the anti-Hitler coalition.
The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. The White House justified the attack by citing alleged missile and nuclear threats from Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also hit. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some other key Iranian leaders were killed in the joint US-Israeli attack.