President Trump assured the world on Wednesday that Iran's days of waging proxy wars and funding terrorism in the Middle East are finished.
"For far too long, all the way back to 1979, to be exact, nations have tolerated Iran's destructive and destabilizing behavior in the Middle East and beyond," Trump said during a televised address to the nation. "Those days are over."
Trump was responding to a flurry of missile strikes on U.S. airbases in Iraq carried out by Iran in retaliation for the killing of the country's top general, Qassem Soleimani. No Americans were killed during the strike, Trump said.
Soleimani, who has been recognized as a terrorist by the last three presidential administrations, was killed based on what the Pentagon has called an "imminent threat" he posed to American lives and assets in the Middle East.
Trump said Soleimani should have been taken out by U.S. forces "a long time ago."
Iran has said it will strike again if the United States uses military force in response to Tuesday's attack in Iraq. Trump indicated no plan to do so Wednesday. Members of Iran's national parliament chanted, "Death to America," over the weekend.
The Trump administration has blasted the now-abandoned Iran Deal that sent money and arms to the country during former President Barack Obama's administration. Trump started his Wednesday speech by saying, "As long as I am president, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. Good morning."
Late last week, Trump threatened to strike Iranian cultural sites if the Iranian government killed Americans.
....targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2020
