Donald Trump refutes Iran's claim in televised address, says no American or Iraqi lives lost in missile attack

US president Donald Trump on Wednesday in a televised addressed said that no American lives had been lost in the Iranian missile attacks on two American bases in Iraq earlier in the day and claimed that Iran seems to be “standing down”. He also reiterated that Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. [caption id=“attachment_7880221” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] US president Donald Trump. AP[/caption] Speaking from the foyer of the White House, Trump said, “No Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime. We suffered no casualties. All our soldiers are safe, only minimal damages were sustained at our military bases.” Trump credited an early warning system “that worked very well" for the fact that no Americans or Iraqis were killed. He added that Americans should be “extremely grateful and happy” with the outcome. His remarks came hours after Iran launched over a dozen ballistic missiles targeting at least two bases where US military and coalition forces’ are stationed in Iraq, which Tehran said was a “slap in the face” of America. According to Iranian state TV, the attacks were in revenge for the killing of the commander of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards, General Qasem Soleimani, in a US drone strike on Friday, which was ordered by Trump. He, however, defended his targeted killing last week of General Soleimani, calling him “a ruthless terrorist”. “In recent days, he was planning new attacks on American targets, but we stopped him,” Trump said. “By removing Soleimani we have sent a powerful message to terrorists. If you value your own life you will not threaten the lives of our people,” he said, adding, “Soleimani’s hands were drenched in both American and Iranian blood.” The US president called on Iran to “work together” to eliminate the Islamic State, saying the killing of Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was “good” for Iran. Claiming that the US economy had grown stronger than ever before during the last five years, Trump said that the country was no longer dependent on West Asian oil. During his televised address, Trump reiterated his position that “Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon" and called for new nuclear negotiations to replace the 2015 nuclear deal from which he withdrew the US. Trump criticised the Barack Obama-era Iran nuclear deal as “very defective” and “foolish”. “The very defective nuclear deal expires shortly, anyway, and gives Iran a clear and quick path to nuclear breakout. Iran must abandon its nuclear ambitions and end its support for terrorism,” Trump said. Iran on Wednesday announced that it was partially withdrawing from the deal. He also announced that the US will immediately place new sanctions on Iran “until Iran changes its behaviour”. “US will impose powerful economic sanctions on Iran. For too long, nations have tolerated Iran’s behaviour. Those days are over. Europe, China, Russia and other countries must break away from Iran nuclear deal,” he said. Urging Iran to abandon nuclear ambitions and end support for terrorism, he said, “Peace and stability cannot prevail in West Asia as long as Iran continues to foment terrorism.” Addressing Iranian leadership and its people through the address, Trump said, “We want you to have a great future, one that you deserve. The US is ready to embrace peace.” “We are constructing many hypersonic missiles. The fact that we have this great military and equipment, however, does not mean we have to use it. We do not want to use it,” he said adding that American strength, both military and economic, was the best deterrent. Trump also asked NATO “to become much more involved in the West Asia process.” With inputs from agencies