Begin typing your search...
Trump says in 'no hurry' for Iran strikes
US President Donald Trump had explained why he nixed the attacks on Iran taking into cognizance the damage it could to Iranian people.
By
migrator
migrator
Washington
President Donald Trump said Friday he is in "no hurry" to bomb Iran, revealing that US forces were "cocked and loaded" but that he called them back with minutes to go in order to avoid mass casualties.
"I am in no hurry," Trump said in a series of tweets detailing his thought process during the late Thursday decision to send, then recall US forces meant to retaliate for the downing by Iran of a US spy drone.
"10 minutes before the strike I stopped it," the president said, explaining that a general had told him to expect 150 deaths on the Iranian side and that he had concluded this would not be a "proportionate" response.
he attacks on three Iranian sites were planned in response to the shooting down of a US unmanned drone this week. Iran said Thursday that its elite Revolutionary Guard shot down an RQ-4 Global Hawk drone as it flew over southern Iran and that the incident sent a "clear message to America".
Tehran says the unmanned US aircraft entered Iranian airspace. The US maintains it was shot down in international airspace.
The aborted US strikes against Iran on Thursday were meant to target a limited set of Iranian radars and missile batteries, CNN quoted a US official with direct knowledge of the matter as saying.
The strikes were set to begin on Thursday night when the White House called them off, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
No US weapons had been launched when the decision was made to call the strikes off, the official said.
Tensions have been escalating between Washington and Tehran, with the US recently blaming Iran for attacks on oil tankers operating in the region.
Iran has also announced it will soon exceed international agreed limits on its nuclear programme.
Last year, the US unilaterally pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear activities.
"Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD!" Trump said in his tweets on the aborted strikes - also revealing that increased economic sanctions against Iran were "added last night".
In its initial report, The New York Times said that as late as 19:00 local time on Thursday, US military and diplomatic officials had still expected the strikes to take place on agreed targets, including Iranian radar and missile batteries.
"Planes were in the air and ships were in position, but no missiles had been fired when word came to stand down," the newspaper reported, citing an unnamed senior administration official.
The strikes had been set to take place just before dawn on Friday to minimise risk to the Iranian military or to civilians, the newspaper added.
In the US, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the US had no appetite for war with Iran, while the leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, Joe Biden, called Trump's Iran strategy a "self-inflicted disaster".
Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!
Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!
Click here for iOS
Click here for Android
Next Story
