President Trump on Wednesday said that “Iran appears to be standing down” and announced that no Americans or Iraqi troops had been killed or injured in retaliatory missile strikes on bases in Iraq where US troops were stationed.
“I’m pleased to inform you, the American people should be extremely grateful and happy. No Americans were harmed by the attack by the Iranian regime,” the commander-in-chief said at 11:30 a.m. from the Grand Foyer in the White House to a room packed with top defense and other staffers, Vice President Mike Pence and the press.
He also vowed that on his watch, Iran would never develop a nuclear weapon.
His remarks came after Iranian forces fired missiles at military bases housing US troops in Iraq on Wednesday in retaliation for the killing of a top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, raising the stakes in its conflict with Washington amid concern of a wider war in the Middle East.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, addressing a gathering of Iranians chanting “Death to America,” said the attacks were a “slap on the face” of the United States and said US troops should leave the region.
Tehran’s foreign minister said Iran took “proportionate measures” in self-defense and did not seek to escalate the confrontation.
Trump, who ordered the drone strike that killed Soleimani in Baghdad on Friday, gave an initial response on Twitter: “All is well!”
“All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far!” he said.
Trump over the weekend threatened to target 52 Iranian sites if Tehran retaliated for Soleimani’s killing.
Iranian state television said Iran had fired 15 ballistic missiles from its territory at US targets in its neighbor Iraq early Wednesday. The Pentagon said al-Asad airbase and another facility in Erbil were targeted.
Iranian state television claimed that 80 “American terrorists” had been killed and US helicopters and military equipment damaged. It did not say how it obtained that information.
Germany, Denmark, Norway and Poland said none of their troops in Iraq were hurt. Britain, which also has personnel in Iraq, condemned the Iranian action and said Tehran “should not repeat these reckless and dangerous attacks.”
More than 5,000 US troops remain in Iraq along with the other foreign forces in a coalition that has trained and backed Iraqis against the threat of Islamic State militants.
In Tehran, Khamenei said in a televised speech, “Military action like this is not sufficient. What is important is ending the corrupting presence of America in the region,” renewing Tehran’s longstanding demand for Washington to withdraw its forces.
With wires
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