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| Trump backs away from further military confrontation with Iran | Trump backs away from further military confrontation with Iran |
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| ‘Iran appears to be standing down,’ Trump said, in an uncharacteristically sober speech following rising tensions between US and Iran | ‘Iran appears to be standing down,’ Trump said, in an uncharacteristically sober speech following rising tensions between US and Iran |
| Donald Trump backed away from further military confrontation with Iran on Wednesday after days of escalating tensions, saying Tehran appeared to be standing down following missile attacks on two Iraqi bases hosting US and coalition troops. | |
| Flanked by the vice-president, Mike Pence, defense secretary Mark Esper, and other high ranking military officials in uniform, Trump delivered remarks in the Grand Foyer of the White House, hours after Iran declared the attack to be retaliation for the US drone strike last week that killed senior Iranian Gen Qassem Suleimani. | |
| “Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world,” Trump said, reading from teleprompters. “No American or Iraqi lives were lost because of the precautions taken the dispersal forces, and an early warning system that worked very well.” | |
| Trump’s speech was notably more sober than his more belicose statements and tweets in the immediate aftermath of Soleimani’s killing, in which he threatened to bomb Iranian cultural sites, a potential war crime. The United States, in recent days, deployed 3,500 paratroopers to the Middle East and Americans were urged to leave the region over safety concerns. | |
| Even so, Trump said the United States would continue evaluating options “in response to Iranian aggression” and that additional sanctions on the Iranian regime would be imposed. He did not elaborate. | Even so, Trump said the United States would continue evaluating options “in response to Iranian aggression” and that additional sanctions on the Iranian regime would be imposed. He did not elaborate. |
| The president stressed the considerable power of the United States military but said that his administration did not seek conflict. | |
| “Our missiles are big, powerful accurate lethal and fast. Under construction are many hypersonic missiles,” Trump said. “The fact that we have this great military and equipment however it does not mean we have to use it. We do not want to use it.” | “Our missiles are big, powerful accurate lethal and fast. Under construction are many hypersonic missiles,” Trump said. “The fact that we have this great military and equipment however it does not mean we have to use it. We do not want to use it.” |
| Trump’s address came after Iran launched more than a dozen missiles at Iraqi bases hosting US and coalition troops. Al-Asad airbase in Iraq’s Anbar province was hit 17 times, including by two ballistic missiles that failed to detonate, according to the Iraqi government. A further five missiles were targeted at a base in the northern city of Erbil in the assault, which began at about 1.30am local time on Wednesday. | |
| Iranian foreign minister, Javad Zarif, made clear the strikes had “concluded” early on Wednesday morning, and characterised them as “proportionate measures in self-defence” rather than an act of war. | |
| However, while both sides appeared to step back from confrontation in the short term, analysts have warned that the standoff may continue to play out through proxies in the Middle East. Security experts have also warned of possible Iranian cyber attacks on critical infrastructure. | |
| Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, described the bombings as “a slap in the face” for the US but warned Tehran still had a wider goal of expelling its enemy from the region. The Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, said the “final answer” to the assassination would be to “kick all US forces out of the region”. | |
| In his Wednesday address, Trump urged Iran to end its “nuclear ambitions” and called on allies to abandon the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. | |
| “The time has come for the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia and China to recognize this reality,” Trump said. “They must now break away from the remnants of the Iran deal or JCPOA. And we must all work together toward making a deal with Iran, that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place.” | “The time has come for the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia and China to recognize this reality,” Trump said. “They must now break away from the remnants of the Iran deal or JCPOA. And we must all work together toward making a deal with Iran, that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place.” |
| Trump also said he would ask Nato to “become much more involved in the Middle East process,” without elaborating. Trump in the past has repeatedly criticized the intergovernmental military alliance. | |
| Additional reporting: Michael Safi in Beirut, Oliver Holmes, and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad in Baghdad | |