US 'not at war right now' with Iran: House Speaker

WASHINGTON

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that the US is "not at war" with Iran, despite four days of intense military operations, framing the campaign as a limited mission.

"We're four days in so far on Operation Epic Fury. It's been limited, precise and extremely lethal," Johnson told reporters on Capitol Hill.

His remarks came amid US-Israel strikes against Iran, which began Feb. 28, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other top security officials.

Tehran has responded with drone and missile attacks targeting Israel and US-linked sites in Gulf countries. Six US service members have been killed and several others injured.

Johnson said the US’ course of action is "necessary, lawful and effective."

"Iran has attacked three of our US Embassies in the last couple of days. Those are sovereign territories of the US. They have declared war on us. I don't believe in the semantics ... We're not at war right now. We're in four days into a very specific, clear mission and operation," Johnson said.

Johnson dismissed the notion, even though President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have described the military campaign as a "war."

"This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change," Hegseth said at a news conference Monday, saying it would not be an "endless" war.