United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the United States will immediately impose “additional punishing sanctions” on Iran following the attacks on US forces in Iraq.
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.
His comments were his first televised remarks since Iran fired more than two dozen missiles at two Iraqi bases housing US troops.
Iran “appears to be standing down” after the strikes, 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.
Instead, he said he would impose more economic sanctions on Iran and called on NATO allies to become more involved in the Middle East.
Tensions between the United States and Iran escalated dramatically last week after Trump ordered the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq.
Iran said Wednesday’s attacks were in revenge for the killing of Soleimani. It warned the US against retaliating for the strikes.
Trump had previously threatened to “fully strike back” if Iran attacked any US citizen or site belonging to the US.
Trump on Wednesday said the US will continue to look at options to respond to the attacks, but did not elaborate. He said he will ask NATO “to become much more involved” in the Middle East.
Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Zarif said afterward that Iran had “concluded proportionate measures” in its retribution for General Soleimani’s death.
Some analysts said the cautious optimism might prove the end of the immediate conflict rather than the start of a war.
But some other analysts cautioned that even if the two sides ease off a further military clash in the short term, the conflict could very well play out in other ways in the months to come.
For instance, Iran has many proxy groups in the Middle East who could hurt America troops or allies such as Saudi Arabia or Israel in new ways for American troops.
