‘All I have is anger,’ outrage as Trump compares US strikes on Iran to Japan atomic bombing

Japan has criticised United States President, Donald Trump after he likened recent American military strikes on Iran to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II.

“That hit ended the war,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday. “I don’t want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don’t want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing.”

The remarks, which referenced the devastating 1945 bombings that killed around 140,000 people and left survivors grappling with trauma and long-term health effects, were swiftly condemned by Japanese officials and survivors.

If Trump’s comment ”justifies the dropping of the atomic bomb, it is extremely regrettable for us as a city that was bombed,” said Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki.

Mimaki Toshiyuki, an atomic bomb survivor and co-chair of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group Nihon Hidankyo, also denounced the comments, calling them “unacceptable”, according to public broadcaster NHK.

“I’m really disappointed. All I have is anger,” said Teruko Yokoyama, another member of the group, as quoted by Kyodo News.

In response to the growing outrage, atomic bomb survivors staged a protest in Hiroshima on Thursday, calling on Trump to retract his statement. 

Lawmakers in the city also passed a resolution the same day rejecting any remarks that justify the use of nuclear weapons and urged for peaceful resolution of conflicts.

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Asked whether Japan would officially lodge a complaint, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa said Tokyo had already conveyed its position on atomic weapons to Washington repeatedly.

According to the BBC, Trump made the controversial comparison while pushing back on a leaked US intelligence assessment that the recent strikes on Iran had only delayed its nuclear programme by a few months. 

He maintained that the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s capabilities and set the programme back by “decades” — a claim supported by CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

Japan remains the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack, and the memory of the bombings continues to shape its foreign policy and peace advocacy. 

In Hiroshima, a peace flame has burned continuously since the 1960s as a symbol of nuclear disarmament, and a clock at a war museum counts the days since the last nuclear attack.

World leaders visiting the city are also asked to fold paper cranes, a gesture symbolising peace and remembrance.

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