Trump Says ‘Iran Appears to Be Standing Down’ After Missile Strikes on U.S. Bases

President Donald Trump has said that Iran is ‘standing down’ a day after the country hit two military bases in Iraq where U.S. troops are housed. Trump made an address to the nation that started 25 minutes and saw the President struggle to pronounce the name of Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian general killed on his orders.

Trump began by saying that Iran would never get a nuclear weapon while he was president before addressing the substance of Tuesday night’s events.

“The American people should be extremely grateful,” Trump said. “No Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime. We suffered no casualties. All of our soldiers are safe.”

President Donald Trump says "the American people should be extremely grateful… we suffered no casualties"

Responding to Iran's missile attack in Iraq, Trump says "Iran appears to be standing down… which is a good thing for the world"https://t.co/VxgNatbODm pic.twitter.com/2mbei6xW3c

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 8, 2020

Initial analysis suggests Iran intentionally avoided causing casualties, perhaps in an effort to offer Trump an ‘off-ramp’ for deescalation.

“Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world,” Trump said.

Trump went on to speak at length about the killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and urged European nations to abandon the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by President Barack Obama. He also claimed that Iran had used money released by the Obama administration to fund terrorism, though this claim was offered without any evidence.

Watch Trump’s remarks above, via BBC News/Twitter.