Iran War Day 190: Trump Calls Iran War ‘Small Potatoes,’ Suggests U.S. May Attack Pickaxe Mountain

In an exchange with reporters Friday, President Trump downplayed the costs of the Iran War. “A lot of people don’t call it a war,” he said, “I call it a military conflict because it’s small potatoes for us. It’s not a big thing.” Trump also asserted the U.S. “may hit Pickaxe soon… if there’s anything going on with Pickaxe.” (The president was referring to Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily-fortified underground site believed to play a major role in Iran’s nuclear program.)

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement Saturday it had struck and destroyed three Iranian tankers off the coast of Iran’s Kharg Island. According to CENTCOM, the strikes were in retaliation for an earlier (and unsuccessful) attempt by Iran to attack two U.S. warships with ballistic missiles.

Fighting also appeared to escalate in Yemen Saturday, where clashes between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government reportedly left over 60 dead. 

In the United States, the New York Times reported that the Pentagon was aggressively hunting leakers in a bid to stop press stories about munitions shortages. The Defense Department reportedly administered polygraphs to roughly 50 members of the military’s Joint Staff in August; according to the Times’s sources, the mass polygraphing “appeared aimed at not just ferreting out anyone who may have shared information, but intimidating others who might do so in the future.”

AAA reported that the average price of gasoline in the United States was $4.15 per gallon Saturday.