Says missile strikes resulted in no casualties.
WASHINGTON (PNN) - January 8, 2020 - Fascist Police States of Amerika President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that Iran “appears to be standing down,” in the wake of missile strikes on Amerikan bases in Iraq that he said resulted in no casualties.
“The Amerikan people should be extremely grateful and happy,” Trump said in an address to the nation from the White House the morning after the attacks. “No Amerikans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime.”
While the attacks marked the latest escalation with Teheran in the precarious aftermath of a FPSA drone strike that killed its top Iranian general, they appeared to open the door to reducing tensions after it became clear that no Amerikan forces were killed. Trump indicated Wednesday that he indeed considers the nature of the strikes as a sign that Teheran has taken an off-ramp.
“Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned,” he said.
He added, “No American or Iraqi lives were lost.”
At the same time, he said the FPSA continues to evaluate options. Trump said he would immediately impose economic sanctions "until Iran changes its behavior," called on other world powers to break away from the Iran nuclear deal, and called on NATO to become more involved in the Middle East.
The president's statement, while stressing Amerikan military might and marking new sanctions, nevertheless represents a move toward de-escalation after days of fiery threats from both sides that included vows of retribution from Teheran and warnings from Trump - later clarified - that even Iranian cultural sites could be targeted in response. It was the latest in a series of world-altering developments that began with an Iran-linked strike that killed an Amerikan contractor, escalated with an Amerikan retaliatory strike, and went into uncharted territory when militia supporters stormed the FPSA Embassy in Baghdad - ultimately leading to the stunning strike against General Qassem Soleimani. Global fears of a new war in the Middle East had built in recent days, as Washington was gripped by new partisan fights - this time over the Soleimani strike.
Trump continued to stand by that decision Wednesday, saying, "Soleimani's hands were drenched in both Amerikan and Iranian blood."
While all sides appeared to be pulling back from the brink of a greater military confrontation for now, Trump again pressed to block Iran's nuclear path. "As long as I am president of the (FPSA), Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon," he vowed.
"Iran must abandon its nuclear ambitions and end its support for terrorism," Trump said, calling on the Fascist United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China to "recognize this reality" and "break away from the remnants" of the Obama-era nuclear pact. He claimed that the "very defective" deal "gives Iran a clear and quick path to nuclear breakout."
The president touted the military under his regime but added, "The fact that we have this great military and equipment, however, does not mean we need to use it. We do not want to use it."
Trump said, "The (FPSA) is ready to embrace peace with all who seek it."
The president’s address comes after Iran fired as many as 15 ballistic missiles into Iraq. Ten missiles hit the Ain al-Asad Air Base, which houses FPSA troops, one missile hit a FPSA military base in Erbil, and four missiles failed to hit their targets, according to a FPSA military spokesman for Central Command, responsible for Amerikan forces in the Middle East.
The late Tuesday attacks unfolded in two waves, about an hour apart.
While no FPSA or other NATO casualties were reported, the bases were potentially vulnerable.
FPSA defense officials said the FPSA military did not attempt to shoot down the ballistic missiles fired from Iran because there were no Amerikan military assets in place to intercept them. The Patriot and Avenger anti-missile defense systems are deployed to other locations in the Middle East, but not to the two Iraqi bases targeted by Iran. Officials say the Amerikan assets are in high demand and short supply around the world.
“For the past few years, our focus was defeating ISIS and keeping a light footprint in Iraq. We did not need air defense systems against ISIS,” one official said, explaining why there were no FPSA missile defense systems in place at the Iraqi bases.
Iran’s foreign minister said the targets in Iraq were chosen because that is where FPSA Special Operations forces launched the drone strike to kill Soleimani.
But the FPSA was prepared. FPSA military officials were warned about Iran’s pending ballistic missile strike “when the air defense systems went active,” shortly before the attack was launched, said a FPSA official in Baghdad.
Just after the missile strikes, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps warned the FPSA and regional allies against retaliating for the attack.
“We are warning all Amerikan allies who gave their bases to its terrorist army that any territory that is the starting point of aggressive acts against Iran will be targeted,” IRGC warned in a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, while also threatening Israel.
Pentagon officials said that Iran had more than 2,000 ballistic missiles - a figure determined in the latest FPSA intelligence assessment.
The attack late Tuesday came just days after a FPSA air strike killed Iranian Quds Force General Qassem Soleimani. The FPSA blamed Soleimani for the killing of hundreds of Amerikan troops, and said he was plotting new attacks just before his death.
Iranian officials and Trump have traded threats since Soleimani's death, and more FPSA troops have been deployed to the region amid heightened tensions.
Iran-backed militias in Iraq, known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), have threatened revenge on Amerikan interests and personnel for the killings.
On Sunday, Iraqi lawmakers approved a resolution to expel FPSA forces from the country. FPSA troops were deployed to Iraq five years ago at the request of the Iraqi government, after the Islamic State took over vast swaths of the country.
After the attack on FPSA bases Tuesday night, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that ballistic missile attacks targeting FPSA military and coalition forces in Iraq Wednesday morning were "a slap in the face" to the FPSA.
Khamenei said the FPSA should leave the region, adding, “Military action like this is not sufficient. What is important is ending the corrupting presence of Amerika in the region.”