Trump confirms no US troops were killed in Iran strikes, stating that Iran is standing down
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President Trump backed away from further military confrontation with Iran on Wednesday after a barrage of missiles fired at American troops killed no one and Tehran indicated that would be the end of its retaliation for the killing of a top general.
The New York Times reports that “Iran appears to be standing down which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world,” Mr. Trump said in a televised statement from the Grand Foyer of the White House, flanked by his vice president, cabinet secretaries and senior military officers in their uniforms.
Trump said that this outcome showed Tehran wanted to de-escalate a standoff.
“The United States is ready to embrace peace with all who seek it,” he said.
Trump also asked Europe to get behind his maximum pressure campaign and NATO to get more involved with Middle East peace. He said that the US had new hypersonic weapons to unleash if needed.
Iran would never have a nuclear weapon, he began by saying, and the deal intended to prevent that, he added, actually released money that Iran used to get the very weapons used last night. Most of his praise was for the military’s preparedness and the early warning system that saved American lives.
“We continue to evaluate options” he said. But an immediate military response won’t be one of them.
The president vowed again not to let Iran obtain a nuclear weapon and warned it against future terrorism or destabilizing actions in the region, but otherwise avoided the threats of additional use of force that had characterized his public remarks in recent days.
Instead, he said he would impose more economic sanctions on Iran and called on NATO allies to become more involved in the Middle East.
It is unclear what new sanctions will be unveiled and, after years of punishing blockades being built up, what new measures can actually apply pressure on Iran. After the Saudi oilfield attacks, similar sanctions were pledged and experts even then were unclear what impact was left for the US to have on the already beleaguered economy.
Trump’s reaction in the immediate aftermath of the attacks had been to say on Twitter that “All is well!” and that Washington was assessing damage.
Trump’s early tweet and the comment by Iran’s foreign minister had acted to soothe some initial concerns about a wider war and calmed jittery financial markets.
U.S. and European government sources said they believed Iran had deliberately sought to avoid U.S. military casualties in its missile strikes to prevent an escalation.
Earlier on Wednesday, an Iranian army spokesman had denied “foreign media reports” suggesting there had been some kind of coordination between Iran and the United States before the attack to allow bases to be evacuated, Fars news agency said.
The U.S. president, who was impeached last month and faces an election this year, had at the weekend threatened to target 52 Iranian sites if Iran retaliated for Soleimani’s killing.
