It’s been six months since the US and Israel began joint strikes on Iran – and still, the United States has not declared it a war.
Vice President JD Vance told reporters yesterday that it was up to Iran to provide an end to the conflict, which has seen gas prices rise and uncertainty spread throughout the Middle East.
Vance said the current strikes should not be called a ‘war’, arguing that no active combat operations have happened in months.
But the hesitation to officially declare a war has already caused issues – this week, the widow of a soldier killed in Iran revealed she hasn’t gotten death benefits – because of the hesitation from the government to call the ‘conflict’ a war.
Libby Klinner lost her husband, US Air Force Major John ‘Alex’ Klinner, in March.
She wrote on Instagram: ‘The Air Force recently told me that because we haven’t officially declared war, my kids and I aren’t eligible for some benefits.
‘So, not only was my husband killed in a war he never wanted to participate in, but now the benefits we’re left with are being dictated by semantics and public perception.’
Klinner has since said that the Air Force’s director of mortuary affairs contacted her to help with benefits.
Six months on, the US has been unable to reveal when the hostilities in Iran would cease.
Earlier this week, forces carried out a fresh wave of strikes against Iranian military targets.
A CENTCOM statement said they struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets including air defence sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine-laying capabilities, and communications sites.
The strikes came after ‘attempted attacks’ by the IRGC in the Strait of Hormuz, which threatened commercial shipping and US personnel.
President Donald Trump ordered the attacks in retaliation for what he described as Iranian attempts to lay sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz and to deter further IRGC threats to commercial shipping and US personnel in the region.
More than 50,000 US service members are currently operating across the Middle East.
Since February, 790 US service members have been wounded, and 18 have been killed.
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