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Jodi Xu Klein

US President Donald Trump backed away from further military escalation with Iran on Wednesday and called for international support, including from China, to contain the Middle Eastern country’s nuclear ambitions.
Speaking from the White House in his first formal address to the country since ordering the drone strike that killed General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, last Thursday, Trump seemed intent on de-escalating the crisis after Iran launched ballistic missiles on two Iraqi bases housing US troops.
Trump confirmed that no Americans or Iraqis were harmed in the missile attack, and indicated he would not retaliate militarily.
Trump said that Iran “appears to be standing down” and that it was “a very good thing for the world”.


The American people should be “extremely grateful and happy that no Americans were harmed” in the attack early Wednesday morning.
Trump announced new economic sanctions against Iran, effective immediately, “until Iran changes its behaviour” after that country’s most direct assault on American forces since the 1979 seizing of the US Embassy in Tehran.
His measured remarks came as a departure from his recent tweets, which had left many to worry about an acceleration in tensions that could result in a war.
Instead, Trump called on nations around the world – including China – to “work together” to contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
China’s commitment to Iran ‘unchanged’, Beijing envoy assures Tehran
He reiterated his position that “Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon” and called for new negotiations to replace the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). China had been one of the signatories to the plan.
“The time has come for the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia and China to recognise this reality. They must now break away from the remnants of the Iran deal,” said Trump. The US withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018.


“We must all work together in making a deal with Iran and make the world a safer and a more peaceful place,” Trump said on Wednesday.
Trump urged Iran to abandon its nuclear development and stressed that the two countries “should work together to [fight ISIS] as the priority”.
Trump also said he would ask Nato to become “much more involved in the Middle East process”.
FAA bans US airlines flying over Iraq, Iran and Gulf after missile attacks
The speech came after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at two military bases in Iraq – one in the northern Iraqi city in Irbil and the other at Al-Asad in western Iraq – that house US troops.
Trump credited an early warning system “that worked very well” for the lack of casualties.
Reuters, quoting anonymous intelligence sources, reported that Iran was believed to have deliberately avoided casualties in a bid to prevent the crisis from escalating out of control while still signalling resolve in responding to the death of Soleimani.


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US President Donald Trump speaks about the situation with Iran in the White House on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

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Russian President Vladimir Putin views a map of the region during a visit to Damascus in Syria. Photo: EPA

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad attend a meeting in Damascus, Syria January 7, 2020. Picture taken January 7, 2020. Sputnik/Aleksey Nikolskyi/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

The coffin of Iranian Quds Force Major-General Qassem Soleimani, is being carried before his burial ceremony, in his hometown in Kerman, Iran, January 8, 2020, in this still image taken from Iran Press footage. Iran Press/Handout via REUTERS NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IRAN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN IRAN. NO USE BBC PERSIAN. NO USE MANOTO. NO USE VOA PERSIAN. NO USE IRAN INTERNATIONAL.

Russian President Vladimir Putin looks through the windows of his plane while flying over Syria. Photo: AP

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Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomes US President Donald Trump to the Nato summit in December. Photo: AFP

(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 19, 2019 (L-R) the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (L), the air-defense destroyer HMS Defender and the guided-missile destroyer USS Farragut transit the Strait of Hormuz. - The United States is weighing sending up to 14,000 more troops to the Middle East in the face of a perceived threat from Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported December 4, 2019. (Photo by Zachary PEARSON / US NAVY / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / US Navy / Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Zachary Pearson" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

(200105) -- BEIJING, Jan. 5, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Photo released on July 21, 2019 shows the British oil tanker Stena Impero surrounded by speedboats of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran. The IRGC seized the British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz for what it called "failing to respect the international maritime rules while passing through the strait." (Morteza Akhoundi/ISNA/Handout via Xinhua)

Can China be the voice of reason as US, Iran trade missile attacks?

Photo: Reuters

A man walks by a huge screen showing U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tokyo, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. Iran struck back at the United States early Wednesday for killing a top Revolutionary Guards commander, firing a series of ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq housing American troops in a major escalation between the two longtime foes. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

This still image from an Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting video shot on January 8, 2020, allegedly shows rockets launched from Iran againts the US military base in Ein-al Asad in Iraq. - Iran fired "more than a dozen" ballistic missiles on January 7, 2020, against two airbases in Iraq where US and coalition forces are based, the Pentagon said. "At approximately 5.30 pm (2230 GMT) on January 7, Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against US military and coalition forces in Iraq," Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement. (Photo by HO / IRIB / AFP) / - Israel OUT / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - NO Access Israel Media / Persian Language TV Stations Outside Iran / Strictly No Access BBC Persian / VOA Persian / Manoto TV / Iran International /

FILE- In this Saturday Jan. 4, 2020 file photo, protesters demonstrate over the U.S. airstrike in Iraq that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Tehran, Iran. The United States’ Gulf allies have pushed for hawkish policies by Washington to pressure, isolate and cripple Iran, but this high-stakes strategy is now being put to the test by the surprise U.S. killing of Soleimani. The killing appears to have caught America's Gulf allies off-guard and threatens to draw Gulf states further into the cross-hairs of rising tensions between Washington and Tehran. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

FILE PHOTO: Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif looks on during a meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow, Russia December 30, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo

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Iran ‘appears to be standing down’, US president says, confirming no US casualties in strike on Iraqi bases housing American troops
Trump urges nations including China to involve themselves in containing Iran’s nuclear ambitions



Iran ‘appears to be standing down’, president says, confirming there were no US casualties in strike on Iraqi bases housing American troops.
