Donald Trump Tweets ‘All Is Well,’ And ‘So Far So Good’ As Iran Claims 30 U.S. Deaths In Attack, Pentagon Zero
Donald Trump posted a message to his Twitter account Tuesday, declaring that “All is well!” after Iran launched a reported 15 ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq that house American troops. The president also said, “So far so good!” and added he would make a statement about the attack on Wednesday morning.
Iranian state media, in broadcasts to the public inside that country, claimed that its ballistic missile attacks on a base in Iraq housing U.S. soldiers have killed 30 Americans, according to NBC News Tehran Bureau Chief Ali Arouzi, who was quoted by Raw Story on Tuesday night.
But Arouzi said that there has been “no substantiation” of the Iranian claims.
Domestic media in the United States has published multiple reports that the Pentagon has claimed no U.S. troops were hurt or killed in the missile attacks, according to a story from Vox.
But there were reports of Iraqi troops dying in the attacks, according to Vox, though those reports had yet to be confirmed.
Arouzi also reported that the Iranian media was claiming that the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei, was in a military control center, personally coordinating the missile strikes.
Iran has launched 'tens' of missiles at the al-Asad airbase in Iraq, where U.S. forces are housed, according to Iran's state TV pic.twitter.com/KLikqK2fsw
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) January 8, 2020
“Iran is all in right now,” Arouzi said. “If the U.S. retaliates, this is going to blow up beyond any imagination.”
The journalist added that “all bets are off” in the region, as quoted by Raw Story.
According to Vox reporter Alex Ward, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson said that 15 missiles were fired at the Al Asad and Erbil air bases in Iraq — both of which house U.S. and Iraqi troops, as well as soldiers from other coalition countries, including the United Kingdom. The spokesperson said that all but four of the Iranian missiles hit their targets.
Of the missiles that reached their targets, 10 hit the Al Asad base, while one struck Erbil, according to the military spokesperson who spoke to Ward. But otherwise, the Pentagon and the Trump administration have offered no information about the attacks, or any possible American response.
Donald Trump was reported earlier on Tuesday to be in preparations to deliver a televised address in which he would be expected to announce how the U.S. would respond to the rocket attacks. But the president ultimately decided to stay silent that day, except by tweet.
Trump claimed in his tweet that a “casualties & damages” assessment was underway on Tuesday night — at least five hours after the initial Iranian strikes. He also boasted that the United States has “the most powerful and well equipped military” in the world.
