The dramatic blast of more than a dozen missiles caused no casualties, however, and U.S. President Donald Trump said hours later that Iran \u201cappears to be standing down.<\/p>\n
It was a signal that both sides were stepping away from an immediate spiral of more direct exchanges that could throw the Middle East into great turmoil.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the White House, Trump said the U.S. would impose new \u201cpunishing economic sanctions\u201d on Iran to force it to stop its nuclear program and what he called its \u201chostilities\u201d in the region. But he also said Washington was open to a deal with Tehran.<\/p>\n
Iran, in turn, appeared to have calibrated its attack to avoid stoking further U.S. retaliation, giving some early warning to its Iraqi allies to avoid casualties.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast night they received a slap,\u201d Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said of the Americans in a speech after the missile strikes.<\/p>\n
He made clear that Iran\u2019s actions were in response to the U.S. killing of\u00a0Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani<\/a>, whose death last week in a drone strike in Baghdad prompted angry calls for vengeance and drew massive crowds of Iranians to the streets in mourning. Khamenei himself\u00a0wept at the funeral<\/a>\u00a0in a sign of his bond with the commander.<\/p>\n \u201cThese military actions are not sufficient (for revenge). What is important is that the corrupt presence of America in this region comes to an end.\u201d<\/p>\n Satellite imagery showed at least five impact sites on the Ain al-Asad base in Iraq\u2019s western Anbar province, each leaving charred blast marks that damaged or destroyed buildings. One obliterated a structure in a row of buildings next to a line of helicopters, though none of the aircraft appeared damaged, according to the imagery provided by Planet Labs, Inc.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s foreign minister tweeted that Tehran had taken and \u201cconcluded proportionate measures in self-defense,\u201d adding that Tehran did \u201cnot seek escalation\u201d but would defend itself against further aggression.<\/p>\n Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi said he received notification from Iran just after midnight that its retaliation \u201cwas starting or would start soon\u201d and would focus only on U.S. positions. The militaries of Finland and Lithuania, which had personnel at one of the targeted bases, said they received information about an imminent attack and had time to move to shelters or leave the base.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s attacks \u201cappeared designed for maximum domestic effect with minimum escalatory risk,\u201d said Henry Rome, analyst with Eurasia Group.<\/p>\n \u201cFor a president who wants to avoid a war in the Middle East during an election year, the Iranians have provided an off-ramp he will likely take,\u201d Rome said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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