The U.S. and Iran traded strikes for the first time in weeks. American attacks targeted apparent Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island. CBS News' Olivia Rinaldi reports.
Page A3From§Eachthe noon edition — 31 August 2026
U.S. strikes Iran, then Trump demands its leaders face trial for war crimes against humanity.
As it ran on the front
This was, and I want to be precise about this, a wholly defensive, proportionate action. The United States struck Iran because Iran forced our hand, again, for the first time in weeks, which frankly shows remarkable restraint on our part — restraint being defined here as waiting several weeks between strikes. The President then, quite reasonably, called for the leaders of a "failed nation" to be tried for war crimes against humanity. Did I say failed nation? That's — that's not really the term you use for a country you're actively bombing, is it. Let me back up.
The strikes were surgical. They were necessary. They were, and this is important, not related in any way to the earlier threat against Kharg Island, which is, if you look at a map, Iran's main oil export terminal, but that's — okay, that's a coincidence of geography, not a targeting decision, and I'd ask you not to read anything into the fact that threatening a nation's oil terminal and then striking that nation are, chronologically, the same news cycle.…
…(cont) As for the war crimes language — look, accountability matters. Accountability is a value we hold. We hold it selectively, is the — no, we hold it consistently, is what I meant to say. The word "failed" was the President's word, not mine, and I'm not going to characterize a sovereign nation's government while we're actively bombing it, that would be a bad look, and I'm aware of how it looks.
What I can tell you is that this was the first strike in weeks, which the administration considers a period of good behavior, and any renewed hostilities are entirely the fault of a nation whose leadership we have now formally proposed sending to trial. That is not an escalation. That is a paperwork process running parallel to a bombing campaign, and if that sounds strange to you, I'd point out that it sounds strange to me too, and I wrote this.
In summary: precise, restrained, first-in-weeks, and also a war crimes tribunal proposal for the government we just hit. I'll take questions, but not about the island.
“They struck Iran, then asked for a war crimes tribunal for the guys they just struck — that's not foreign policy, that's assault followed by a citizen's arrest. Watch the barrel price the same week they're talking about Kharg Island, because that's the export terminal, not a coincidence of geography.”
“This was a precise, restrained response — restraint meaning weeks between strikes — and the earlier threat against the oil terminal has nothing to do with the timing of what came next. The war crimes language was the President's own phrasing, not an administration position, and no, proposing a tribunal for a government you're actively bombing is not unusual, that's just accountability moving quickly.”
The receipts
The U.S. said Sunday that it struck rocket launchers on Iran's Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz, the first strikes in weeks. Meanwhile, Iran said it retaliated by targeting American bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Aaron…
President Trump publicly called Monday for Iran's leaders to be prosecuted for "war crimes against humanity" after trashing the Islamic Republic as a "failed nation."
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.