(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) President Trump on Monday thanked Iran for giving the US notice of its plans to launch a retaliatory attack on the US’s Al Udeid base in Qatar, saying it prevented casualties.
Iran’s military launched the attack on the US base in response to the US bombing of three of its nuclear facilities. Trump called the Iranian retaliation “weak,” suggesting he’s not planning to respond.
“Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered. There have been 14 missiles fired — 13 were knocked down, and 1 was ‘set free,’ because it was headed in a nonthreatening direction,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“I am pleased to report that NO Americans were harmed, and hardly any damage was done. Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE. I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured,” the president added.
Trump said that now Iran has the chance to “proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region” and that he will “enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same.”
In another post, Trump also noted that there were no Qatari casualties. “Regarding the attack today at the American Base in Qatar, I am pleased to report that, in addition to no Americans being killed or wounded, very importantly, there have also been no Qataris killed or wounded,” he said.
Trump’s comments align with media reports that said Iran gave notice to Qatar ahead of the attack. The incident was similar to the US’s assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in 2020, when Iran launched a similar retaliatory attack on a US base in Iraq, and the US didn’t respond.
While Trump is signaling he won’t attack Iran again, it’s unclear what he will demand of Tehran, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may see the limited Iranian retaliation as a chance to argue to the US that Iran is weak and that now is the time for regime change.
Iran also has little reason to trust that Trump truly seeks peace since the US president engaged in deception to make it appear that he was interested in a diplomatic solution ahead of Israel’s initial attacks on Iran and before the US bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities.
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
