From small boats moored along the coast to launch pads and missile storage facilities, the United States, which had carried out continuous bombings for 13 days, has halted its attacks for the third consecutive day.
Background details regarding U.S. President Donald Trump ordering a halt to the airstrikes on the 24th are coming to light.
U.S. media outlet Axios reported that General Brad Cooper, the commander overseeing operations against Iran, effectively recommended suspending the airstrikes, stating that the effectiveness of targeting the Strait of Hormuz region has reached its limit.
Reports also emerged that General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned that interceptor missiles to respond to Iranian retaliation are being depleted to dangerous levels.
They have fallen into a dilemma: waging an all-out war lacks enough defensive missiles, while continuing attacks as before yields no practical benefits.
In this situation, the moves of the U.S. Department of Defense are also drawing criticism.
The official number of war casualties from the conflict with Iran was reduced from 18 to 14, but after fierce backlash, it was quietly restored to 18.
An even greater controversy is the official start date of the war.
Although the war began with the first airstrikes on February 28, the U.S. Department of Defense currently designates July 7 as the start date of the Iran War.
July 7 is the date President Trump notified Congress as the start of military operations on the 10th, following renewed clashes after the signing of a pre-ceasefire memorandum of understanding.
Since the president only has war powers for up to 60 days without congressional approval, this is interpreted as an attempt to avoid controversies regarding legality.
[Lisa Murkowski / Republican Senator: On July 10, the administration submitted a new War Powers notification to Congress, effectively restarting the 60-day clock. I am concerned about this.]
As the achievements of the war become ambiguous, criticisms are surging that tricks are being employed to reduce the duration of the war and the scale of casualties.
(Reported by Lee Hanseok | Camera Cooperation: Park Eun-ha | Video Editing: Ahn Yeo-jin | Produced by SBS Digital News)
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