WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House says President Donald Trump plans to address the nation at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Trump faces one of the greatest tests of his presidency now that Iran has launched ballistic missiles at two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops. It was Iran’s most brazen assault on America since the 1979 seizing of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
Iran’s missile strikes were in retaliation for last week’s American drone strike that killed Iran’s top general. Trump huddled with his national security advisers to weigh a response.
Top Senate Democrats are citing “deep concern” about the lack of information coming from the Trump administration about the Iran operation. They say they want Defense Department officials to provide “regular briefings and documents” to Congress.
Meantime, reaction from around the world to Iran’s missile strikes:
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has condemned what he called Iran’s “reckless and dangerous” missile attacks on bases in Iraq used by U.S. troops, and he called for “urgent de-escalation” by Tehran and Washington.
Johnson also said Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander killed in a U.S. airstrike last week, “had the blood of British troops on his hands.”
Iraq’s presidency has condemned Iranian missile strikes on two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. troops, reiterating its rejection of breaches of Iraq’s sovereignty.
Barham Saleh‘s office also said in a statement that the fate of U.S. troops in Iraq is an internal matter based on legal agreements to combat the Islamic State group.
NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg has condemned Iran’s missile strike against U.S. forces in Iraq, while a NATO official says there were no casualties among the military alliance’s personnel in the country.
The Iraqi mission consists of several hundred staff from allied nations and non-NATO countries.
Turkey’s foreign minister will visit Iraq on Thursday as part of diplomatic efforts to “alleviate the escalated tension” in the region, a ministry statement said.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also spoke with his Iranian counterpart Wednesday after Iran fired more than 20 missiles overnight at bases in Iraq used by U.S. troops in retaliation for the U.S. killing of Iran’s top military commander last week in Baghdad.
Turkey has called for calm and expressed concern about regional security after the U.S. drone strike. Turkey shares a border with Iran and Iraq and is engaged militarily in northern Iraq.
