Trump leaves Iran, allies uneasy even after stopping airstrike

Bloomberg

President Donald Trump said he called off retaliatory strikes on three Iranian sites following the downing of a US Navy drone because the action wouldn’t have been “proportionate.”
“We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General,” Trump tweeted. “10 minutes before the strike I stopped it.”
A commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told a semi-official news agency that the drone had been accompanied by a manned US spy plane that Iranian forces decided not to target.
The planned US attack, ordered after Iranian forces shot down the pilotless aircraft over the Strait of Hormuz, would have involved airstrikes and was close to being carried out when it was stopped, said an administration official, who wouldn’t discuss whether the plan might be revived. The official was granted anonymity to discuss a national security matter.
National Security Advisor John Bolton was pushing for the strike. Officials were prepared to notify allies of the military action, but Trump changed his mind based on additional information, an official said.
Iran wasn’t given any warning of possible retaliation. The US notified the UK about the aborted action afterward, the official said.
With tensions still high, the Iranians called the Swiss ambassador, Markus Leitner, into the Foreign Ministry for talks. The Swiss embassy also represents US interests in Iran, and its envoy traditionally serves as the conduit for messages between the two nations, which have no diplomatic relations.
But Brian Hook, the US special representative for Iran, told reporters the Iranians “continue to reject diplomatic overtures to deescalate tensions in the region.”
Allies in Europe sought to calm tensions. Andrew Murrison, a UK deputy foreign minister, is planning to go to Tehran as soon as possible, a person familiar with the matter said. French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking in Brussels, called for both sides to “avoid escalation,” adding that diplomatic efforts are being made to reach out to Iran for talks.
Airstrikes would have raised the specter of a far broader conflict in the volatile region, which supplies one-third of the world’s oil. The move and its reversal underscore the wavering approach the president has shown at times regarding military force.
He has repeatedly and fiercely lashed out at Iran and North Korea, but then cooled his rhetoric when hostilities threatened to erupt into open conflict.

Trump pledge to avoid war tested by Iran
Bloomberg

Two days after launching his 2020 re-election bid, President Donald Trump had to confront whether to risk breaking his pledge to avoid entangling the US in new Middle East conflicts.
With his decision to scrap a planned military strike against Iran, the president stepped away from a move that would put the two nations on a path to a much wider confrontation. Trump had spent the day deliberating on a response to tanker attacks and the shooting down of a drone and was advised by aides during situation room meetings to proceed with military action.
But Trump, who regularly criticises his predecessors for sending troops to the Middle East, remained doubtful, according to people familiar with the matter. He was concerned that an attack could lead to a direct military clash — precisely the kind of fight he rejects.
Though most advisers — including National Security Adviser John Bolton — pushed for the strike, Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, did not.