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While Iran’s military commanders are vowing to fight on with the goal of getting U.S. forces to leave the region, the headline in Tehran on Thursday was that — in the short term — the U.S. isn’t planning another military strike. Residents went about their business feeling safer.
One resident, Caroline, told CBS News senior foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer she had been afraid of the prospect of an all-out war. Like millions of others in Iran, she listened to President Trump’s speech on Wednesday very closely. She said she was relieved when he said there would not be any further American attack, and she “slept very well” after his remarks.
Mr. Trump indicated Wednesday he plans no further military response against Iran in a statement intended to lower tension in the Middle East. “The fact that we have this great military and equipment, however, does not mean we have to use it,” Mr. Trump said. “We do not want to use it.”
On Iranian state-run TV, the president’s decision not to strike back was framed as a climb-down by the U.S., and a win for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Iranian commander vows “harsher revenge” against U.S.
A member of Iran’s joint chiefs of staff vowed on Thursday there would be “harsher revenge” taken against the United States. Abdollah Araghi said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard “will impose a harsher revenge on the enemy in the near future,” according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
The general chosen to replace Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike last week, also said Thursday he would follow the same path as his predecessor.
The messages show that the U.S. can’t afford to let its guard down. They also highlight continued deep divisions inside Iranian society, CBS News senior foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports. Iran’s political leaders said Wednesday the Islamic Republic had “concluded” its response to America’s killing of Soleimani.
U.S. officials confident Iran shot down passenger jet
U.S. officials are confident Iran shot down a Ukrainian jetliner in the hours after the Iranian missile attack on U.S. targets earlier this week, CBS News has learned.
U.S. intelligence picked up signals of the radar being turned on and satellite detected infrared blips of two missile launches, probably SA-15s, followed shortly by another infrared blip of an explosion.
The current thinking is the plane, Ukraine International Flight 752, was mistakenly targeted, CBS News’ Kris Van Cleave reports.
President Trump said Thursday it could have been a mistake.
Federal officials were briefed on this intelligence Thursday morning. A source who was in the briefing said it appears missile components were found near the crash site, Van Cleave reports.
The plane crashed in Iran Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board.
