This time, the Iranian regime has softened and said it wants to talk to the U.S. – instead of getting involved in a full-scale shootout.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said live on Iranian television Thursday that the Islamic Republic is making every effort “every day” to prevent war after Washington and Tehran were on the verge of a direct military confrontation earlier this month.
Just weeks before parliamentary elections, which political analysts say are a decisive test for the Rouhani administration, and in the midst of growing hostility between Iran and the United States over the former’s nuclear activities, Rouhani expressed hope for a “possible” dialogue with the West.
The Middle East seemed on the brink of a new war in early January after U.S. President Donald Trump gave the green light to the assassination of Iran’s second most influential man, Kassem Soleimani, in a drone strike at Iraq’s Baghdad airport that forced Tehran to respond with a missile strike on U.S. military facilities in Iraq a few days later.
Iran’s rocket attack, which it called “self-defense” and “compensation for Suleimani’s murder”, did not cause any U.S. or Iraqi casualties, except for property damage, according to reports.