US President Donald Trump addressed the public for nine minutes on Wednesday from the Grand Foyer of the White House, after Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles and targeted US bases in Iraq on Tuesday night.
Before reading his prepared speech from teleprompters, he said that, “As long as I’m president of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.”
He then said that both America and Iraq had not suffered any casualties in Iran’s attacks on Iraqi military bases. “All of our soldiers are safe,” he said.
He called Iran the leading sponsor of terrorism, saying that its “pursuit of nuclear weapons threatens the civilized world.”
The president said that the time has come for the UK, Germany, France and Russia to unite to stop Iran and to work toward a better deal with the country. He added that Iran will not be allowed to go forward. “I will ask NATO to be more involved in the Middle East peace process.”
Trump also boasted about his administration having spent over $2 trillion on upgrading America’s military, but said that the US doesn’t want to use it in a war with Iran.
Instead, speaking directly to the Iranian people and their leaders, he said that the United States wants them to have a “great future, one that you deserve – 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.”
Iran is believed to have deliberately sought to avoid US military casualties in missile strikes on bases housing American troops in Iraq, launched in retaliation for America’s killing of an Iranian general, according to US and European government sources familiar with intelligence assessments.
The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday that the Iranians were thought to have targeted the attacks to miss US forces to prevent the crisis from escalating out of control while still sending a message of Iranian resolve. A source in Washington said overnight that early indications were that there were no US casualties, while other US officials declined comment.
Source » jpost