Trump backs off Iran military strike threat: Update 2

Updates with changes throughout

Washington is signaling it has no plans to retaliate militarily after an Iranian missile attack on US military bases in Iraq.

President Donald Trump said today Iran "appears to be standing down" after a night in which, by the Pentagon's count, Tehran fired at least a dozen missiles at two bases housing US forces.

While noting that the US military is "prepared for anything," Trump emphasized that neither the US nor Iraq suffered any casualties in the assaults, while the bases sustained minimal damage. He credited the Pentagon's decision to disperse its forces and early warnings of the missile attacks for the lack of casualties.

And Trump even offered a possible olive branch.

"The US is ready to embrace peace with all who seek it," Trump said.

Iran said it had taken "proportionate measures" to retaliate after the US killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds force commander Qasem Soleimani near Baghdad airport on 3 January.

The Iranian strike boosted oil futures, but prices fell back later as Iran indicated it would not carry out additional strikes and regional governments moved to ease tensions.

Trump's measured statement today was in marked contrast to his bellicose tone in recent weeks, in which he threatened to obliterate Iranian cultural sites and other targets in Iran attacked US troops.

But Trump's actions make any real diplomatic effort difficult. Tehran has insisted on the lifting of US sanctions against Iranian oil sector before talks can start. Trump today said the US will respond to the attack on its bases by imposing even more sanctions. And Tehran highlighted Soleimani's key role in reversing Isis' gains in Iraq, while Trump spent much of his speech defending the decision to kill the Iranian commander, whom he called a terrorist.

Trump is facing rising opposition in Congress to any further escalation of the conflict with Iran.

The Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives is preparing to debate a war powers resolution that would prohibit Trump from engaging in hostilities with Iran without Congress' approval. Democratic senators offered a similar measure in the Senate, but such a measure is unlikely to reach the floor in that chamber.

Key administration officials today briefed the full Senate in a classified setting on their reasoning for killing Soleimani. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and defense secretary Mark Esper publicly said Soleimani was preparing to carry out an "imminent attack" that would have resulted in massive casualties for the US forces in the Middle East.

The senators' reaction to the classified intelligence offered by Pompeo and Esper fell mostly along the partisan lines. Based on the briefing, "it would have been reckless for the president not to react and not to take out Soleimani," Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Jim Risch (R-Idaho) said.

But Democratic senators said Pompeo and Esper offered little evidence to justify the killing and ultimately cut the briefing short after questions grew more pointed. "I was deeply surprised at the lack of facts," senator Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) said.

Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) said they decided to support the anti-Iran war resolution after the briefing. "I support President Trump, but I found the briefing to be insulting and demeaning," Lee said. Pompeo and Esper suggested that debating the appropriateness of targeting Soleimani was tantamount to helping Iran, Lee said.

By Haik Gugarats