Trump says Iran appears to be 'standing down' after strike

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, in a speech aimed at de-escalating tensions with Iran, said Wednesday the United States will deploy economic sanctions, not military force, to respond to Tehran's retaliatory missile strike against American troops in Iraq.

Trump called for NATO and other foreign allies to step up diplomatic oversight of Iran and insisted the United States was “ready to embrace peace with all who seek it.” His nearly 10-minute speech, given in the wake of an attack that failed to harm U.S. troops, was a more tempered departure from his recent bellicose tweets threatening to strike Iranian cultural sites. 

Flanked by Vice President Mike Pence, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and top military officials in the White House Grand Foyer, Trump asserted that Iran "appears to be standing down," and said he was “pleased” to confirm that no Americans were injured in Tuesday night’s attack on two military bases housing U.S. troops in northern and western Iraq. He credited an “early warning system” and the “skill and courage” of U.S. troops for preventing any casualties.

U.S. intelligence officials also reportedly received advance notice of the attacks via intelligence sources, from Iraqi officials who had been notified by Tehran of the looming attacks, and through diplomatic back channels including Swiss diplomats, according to multiple reports.

"The American people should be extremely grateful and happy," Trump said.

Iran launched more than a dozen missiles at American-occupied military bases in response to a U.S. drone strike last Friday that killed one of Iran’s top military leaders, Qassem Soleimani.

Trump authorized the drone strike, arguing that the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force had engineered previous deadly attacks on Americans and posed an “imminent” risk to American forces.

Democratic lawmakers have questioned the timing of the killing that comes as Trump braces for a Senate impeachment trial. Soleimani had long been under watch by the United States, but George W. Bush and Barack Obama ultimately opted against killing the leader, believing such a move would fuel further attacks against the United States.

On Capitol Hill, hours after Trump spoke, U.S. House and Senate lawmakers emerged from a closed-door briefing with Trump’s top national security advisers, split along party lines about whether Trump was authorized to order Soleimani’s killing without notifying Congress first.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), repeating her contention that Trump defied protocol by failing to notify a select group of congressional leaders about the drone strike, said the Democratic-controlled chamber will vote Thursday on a measure aimed at limiting “the President’s military actions regarding Iran.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), speaking to reporters after the briefing, said, "there were so many important questions that [Trump's advisers] did not answer."

"We did not see a plan, a satisfying plan for the future," Schumer said.

Republicans mostly lauded Trump’s actions, saying he acted within his authority as commander in chief to approve the operation against Soleimani. But Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) criticized the briefing, telling reporters the information presented was vague and "less than satisfying."

Trump defended Soleimani’s killing, saying the general’s “hands were drenched in both American and Iranian blood. He should have been terminated long ago.”

“By removing Soleimani, we have sent a powerful message to terrorists: If you value your own life, you will not threaten the lives of our people,” Trump said

The president, while touting the U.S. military’s missile capability, said “the fact that we have this great military and equipment, however, does not mean we have to use it. We do not want to use it.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif offered a similarly conciliatory sentiment, saying in a tweet posted late Tuesday night that Iran’s leaders “do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.”

Zarif argued that the attacks on the two military bases were “proportionate measures in self-defense."

But in his speech, Trump added: “As we continue to evaluate options in response to Iranian aggression, the United States will immediately impose additional punishing economic sanctions on the Iranian regime. These powerful sanctions will remain until Iran changes its behavior.”

The president called on NATO to become “much more involved in the Middle East process,” and called on the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia and China to collectively renegotiate a new deal with Iran to replace the Obama-era Iran Nuclear Deal that he has long decried as “weak” and “ineffective” in keeping Iran from developing its nuclear weapons programs.

Trump withdrew the United States from the multinational agreement in 2018, but the remaining nations have attempted to keep the deal intact. Iran announced last Sunday that it was backing away from the deal in response to the U.S. attack on Soleimani.

“They must now break away from the remnants of the Iran deal ... and we must all work together toward making a deal with Iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place,” Trump said of the agreement's other member states.

Iran's top leaders, while signaling that the country was not looking to enter a war with the United States, also stepped up their calls Wednesday for the U.S. military to withdraw its far-reaching presence in the Middle East. Last Sunday, Iraq's Shia majority parliament approved a measure to remove U.S. forces from the country, but the measure must still be approved by the Iraqi government.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, in a Wednesday speech, said, "the presence of America, which is a source of corruption in this region, should come to an end."

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was encouraged by Trump’s more conciliatory message, said Gutteres spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

"We welcome any indication that leaders are walking back from major confrontation and are doing whatever they can to avoid any further escalation,” Dujarric said in New York.

With Zachary Dowdy