'We Don't Have A Choice': President Donald Trump Invokes 9/11 Legacy To Defend US War Against Iran

US President Donald Trump on Friday commemorated the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks at the Pentagon, honouring the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives in the al-Qaida attacks and reflecting on their lasting impact on US security and foreign policy.

Trump attended the memorial ceremony alongside first lady Melania Trump, where the names of 184 people killed at the Pentagon were read aloud. A bell sounded after each name as those who died when hijacked aircraft struck the Pentagon, the World Trade Center and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, were remembered.

Recalling some of the victims, Trump said the attacks had reinforced America's resolve to protect itself and its people.

"We will never, ever forget," Trump said. "That's why we fight today. We don't have a choice."

The president also reflected on the national unity that emerged across the country following the attacks, describing the period as one in which Americans came together in an extraordinary display of solidarity.

"In those harrowing days after the attacks, we saw the authentic spirit of our nation," Trump said. "We were all New Yorkers that day. Every one of us. We were all New Yorkers. We were all family."

The Pentagon ceremony marked Trump's second consecutive 9/11 anniversary observance at the site. Trump, who was born in New York, had attended the commemoration at Ground Zero in 2024.

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance attended the anniversary event in New York alongside former presidents and other prominent figures. Separate commemorations were also held in Shanksville for the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, who were killed after passengers attempted to prevent the hijackers from carrying out their plan.

Vance had been due to attend the New York ceremony last year but altered his schedule following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, travelling to Salt Lake City to be with Kirk's family.

During Friday's Pentagon event, Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth connected the significance of the September 11 attacks with the United States' ongoing conflict with Iran.

Trump commended US troops involved in the war and reiterated his warning that Iran must not be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. He described Tehran as the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism.

He saluted American personnel "working right now to ensure the world's No. 1 sponsor of terror - the Islamic Republic of Iran - will never, ever have a nuclear weapon."

Hegseth similarly framed the conflict with Iran within the wider history of US confrontation with the country's government, arguing that the regime had posed a threat to Americans for decades.

"Our warriors have fought an Islamic theocracy that has wished us death for nearly half a century, that cheered on 9/11, a regime that has sponsored terrorist attacks against Americans for decades, killing thousands, including our comrades in Iraq, in Afghanistan," Hegseth added.

Hegseth also said the US military had "laid waste to the world's most prolific state sponsor of terrorism" during the conflict.

(With Inputs From Agencies)