Missile strikes didn't harm any US Troops: Trump

Colombo (News 1st): US President Donald Trump said that Iranian missile strikes on bases in Iraq did not harm any US troops stationed there and the damage was minimal, an outcome he said showed Tehran wanted to de-escalate a standoff. The U.S. President Donald Trump went onto note:

"As long as I am President of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Iran appears to be standing down which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world. The United States will immediately impose additional punishing economic sanctions on the Iranian regime. These powerful sanctions will remain until Iran changes its behavior. The time has come for the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China to recognize this reality. They must now break away from the remnants of the Iran deal or JCPOA. And we must all work together toward making a deal with Iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place. We are now the number one producer of oil and natural gas anywhere in the world. We are independent and we do not need Middle East oil."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain is committed to the Iranian nuclear deal. Iran said Wednesday's attacks against an Iraqi base in Erbil and the Ain al-Asad base in Western Iraq were revenge for the killing of Soleimani. It warned the US against retaliating for the strikes. Meanwhile, the United States government told the United Nations that it is prepared to take additional action "as necessary" in the Middle East to protect American personnel and interests in the region. In a letter to the UN Security Council, US Ambassador Kelly Craft said the killing of Soleimani in Baghdad on Friday was justified under Article 51 of the UN Charter. Under Article 51, countries are required to "immediately report" to the 15-member Security Council any measures taken in exercising the right of self-defence. However, Utah Senator Mike Lee, who belongs to US President Donald Trump's Republican Party, has questioned the administration's classified briefing on the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, calling it "the worst" that he has ever attended. In May 2019, following a Senate intelligence briefing where the Trump administration presented its policy on Iran, Bernie Sanders expressed the following views.

"I think, most Americans know, way back when we were lied to about the situation in Vietnam, and we went into a war which ended up costing us 59,000 lives based on a lie. 2003 we were lied to in terms of Iraq supposedly having weapons of mass destruction. We lost over 4000 brave Americans and hundreds of thousands of people in the region were killed and forced to leave their homes. I believe that a war with Iran would be an absolute disaster, far worse than the war with Iraq, and I hope that the American people tell this administration that we will not go to war in Iran. Intentionally and or unintentionally we can create a situation in which war will take place and let me tell you I think when you do that you are talking about a war that will go on and on and on. And I hope that Congress does everything it can to remind this president about the Constitution of the United States. Sometimes we forget it! But some of us learned in school that it is Congress that determines whether or not this country goes to war and not the President of the United States."