Baghdad/Washington: After resolving the other day to hit back even harder, in case Iran retaliates to the liquidation of its top general, President Donald Trump seemed to back off in the face of a missile attack on two of its airbases in Iraq.
In a face saver, Trump indicated in a televised address that Iran ‘‘appeared to be standing down, which was good for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world,” Trump was flanked by his vice president, cabinet secretaries and senior military officers in their uniforms.
The president pledged 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.
Instead, he said he would impose more economic sanctions on Iran and called on NATO allies to become more involved in the Middle East, reports New York Times.
Iran, which had warned of a ‘crushing revenge,’ had launched on early Wednesday morning a barrage of 22 missiles on the two US hubs but failed to kill a single American solider.
The Iranian state television initially claimed that "at least 80 terrorist US soldiers" were killed in the strikes but that figure was quickly rubbished by officials. President Trump also affirmed in his televised address that there were no casualties.
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaking on TV shortly after the missiles were launched, described the strikes as ‘‘a slap’’ and said they ‘‘are not sufficient (for revenge)’’ while vowing further action to evict US troops out of the region.
Shortly after the missile attacks, Trump tweeted, "All is well!’’ It is believed that Iran gave advanced warning of the strikes. Iraq, Finland and Lithuania - which all had troops stationed at the two US bases which were targeted - said they were informed in advance.
In all probability, US, too, had a tip-off on the attack. Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, too, confirmed Iran had warned him that an attack was imminent and only areas with US troops would be targeted.
This assessment seemed to agree with the situation the ground as early warning systems had sounded alarms at the Ain al-Asad air base, allowing troops to scramble for cover.
While the attack marks a significant escalation in tensions between the US and Iran, it falls far short of direct attacks on US commanders that had been feared.
Analysts said Iran may have deliberately pulled its punches because they are fearful of the 'disproportionate' response threatened by Trump if US personnel were killed. '
With the attacks, Tehran signalled its capacity and readiness to respond to US attacks, thus saving face, and yet they have been well targeted to avoid fatalities and thus avoid provoking Trump's reaction,' said one such expert.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the attack was in retaliation for the death of Soleimani on Friday - killed in a missile strike outside Baghdad airport on the orders of President Trump - and warned US allies that their bases could also be targeted.
But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the attack was in self-defence and denied seeking to escalate the situation into war.
BBC quoted analysts as saying the attack was clearly timed to cause as few casualties as possible. Both the US and Iran - for all their rhetoric - do not want a wider conflict.
