Politicians address Iran-U.S. tensions

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC) – President Trump said he was ready to retaliate against Iran Thursday night but canceled the strike because civilians would be killed. Iran, meanwhile, said it decided not to attack a U.S. spy plane.

The White House said President Trump had the Pentagon’s support but stopped the strikes almost at the last minute.

The president tweeted, “We were cocked and loaded to retaliate,” but said in an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, he then learned 150 civilians could die.

“And I said, ‘You know what? They shot down an unmanned drone… a plane… whatever you want to call it.’ And here we are, sitting with 150 dead people that would have taken place probably within a half hour of when I said, ‘go ahead’ and I didn’t like it and I didn’t think it was proportionate.”

But a member of the president’s own party questions his decision. “I don’t think he should have called it off,” said House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Adam Kinzinger. “There is a benefit to saying, ‘There’s gonna be a response that costs you what it cost us.’”

Iran fired back, saying it repeatedly sent warnings before downing the drone and didn’t attack a U.S. spy plane with 35 crew aboard near the drone. It’s more evidence of how close the two sides are coming to a military conflict.

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said, “This is a moment for a strong, steady hand and a clear strategy and frankly, we don’t have that right now.”

But a frequent critic of the president praised his decision. Former CIA Director John Brennan said, “I give him credit for being almost the adult in the room because of the war hawks like John Bolton and Mike Pompeo who are pushing toward this confrontation.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “A strike of that amount of collateral damage would be very provocative and I’m glad the president did not take that.”

Tensions are now so high the F.A.A. is barring U.S. aircraft from flying over parts of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman and several major world airlines have also begun rerouting their flights. And the U.S. has plans to brief the U.N. Security Council in a closed-door meeting Monday on the situation with Iran.

In a tweet Friday, President Trump said, “Sanctions are biting & more added last night.” But he did not give details about the nature of those additional sanctions against Iran.

The entire exclusive conversation with President Trump will air Sunday, June 23rd on Meet the Press with Chuck Todd.

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