More sanctions against Iran, but no war, says Donald Trump

Donald Trump has moved to avert a potential war in the Middle East by deciding not to launch retaliatory strikes against Iran.

Donald Trump and his national security team in the Situation Room after the Iranian attack. Picture: The White House

Donald Trump has moved to avert a potential war in the Middle East by deciding not to launch retaliatory military strikes against Iran despite its attacks on two bases in Iraq housing US troops.

The US President instead announced new economic sanctions against Tehran after observing that Iran was “standing down” following its missile strikes, in which he confirmed there were no US casualties. “Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world,” Mr Trump said as he delivered an address to the nation flanked by senior milit­ary leaders at the White House.

“The American people should be extremely grateful and happy. No Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime­ … and only minimal damage­ was sustained at our milit­ary bases.”

Mr Trump began his address by saying “so long as I am President of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon­”. But he also moved to de-escalate tensions and even held out the prospect of eventual peace with Iran if it ended its pursuit of nuclear weapons and its support for terrorism.

“To the people and leaders of Iran, we want you to have a future and a great future, one that you deserve­,” he said. “One of prosperity­ at home and harmony with the nations of the world. The United States is ready to embrace peace with all who seek it.”

In his 10-minute address, Mr Trump did not threaten Iran with further military action but neither did he rule it out, saying the US was “prepared for anything”.

“As we continue to evaluate options­ in response to Iranian aggressio­n, the United States will immediately impose additional punishing sanctions on the Iranian regime,” he said without outlining what those sanctions would be.

“These powerful sanctions will remain until Iran changes its behaviou­r. In recent months alone, Iran has seized ships in international waters, fired an unprovoked strike on Saudi Arabia and shot down two US drones.

“The civilised world must send a clear and unified message to the Iranian regime: Your campaign of terror, murder, mayhem will not be tolerated any longer.

“It will not be allowed to go ­forward.”

Mr Trump urged those other nations still in the Iran nuclear deal to withdraw from the deal and help negotiate new and tougher restraints on Iran’s nuclear ambitions. He also called on NATO to become more involved in the Middle­ East process.

Mr Trump’s comments came amid mixed messages from Iran as its supreme leader warned that the attacks on the al-Asad base and the Irbil base in Iraq were insufficient­ punishment for the US for its assassination of Iran’s most senior military leader, general Qassem Soleimani.

“They were slapped last night, but such military actions are not enough,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Thursday.

A day earlier, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, suggested that Iran’s military actions­ were over for now. He said Iran “took and concluded propor­tion­ate measures of self-defence” in the strikes and that the country did “not seek escalation or war”.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said his country’s long-term mission was to force US troops out of the Middle East.

“Our final answer to his assassin­ation will be to kick all US forces out of the region,” Mr Rouha­ni tweeted.

Mr Trump strongly defended his decision last week to order the targeted killing of Soleimani in Baghdad, describing him as “the world’s top terrorist”.

“Soleimani’s hands were drenched in both American and Iranian blood. He should have been terminated long ago,” he said. “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.”

His address came after Iran fired 16 ballistic missiles into Iraq. Republican senator and close Trump ally Lindsey Graham describ­ed Mr Trump’s address as a “home-run speech” that was “measured and firm”.

“All Americans should support President Trump’s efforts to resolve­ the threat from Iran peacefully and fully understand the ‘maximum pressure’ campaign must continue with a credible milit­ary component,” he said.

Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia