A White House official said Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump will not speak on Tuesday despite initial plans to hold an address to the nation. Trump later tweeted that his speech will be delivered on Wednesday morning.
News of the nation address cancelation came shortly after the Pentagon announced that Iran launched missile attacks on two Iraqi bases where there are American troops deployed, CNN reported.
Pentagon spokesperson, Jonathan Hoffman, said Tuesday evening that over a dozen missiles were launched by Iran and assessments are being carried out to gauge the extent of damage from the strikes.
Hoffman revealed that the U.S. Department of Defense has been hard at work in ensuring the safety of both American soldiers and partners in Iraq. He said the bases are "on high alert" due to signals of retaliation from Iran.
There were no initial reports of American casualties in the latest attacks, a U.S. official revealed. However, an Iraqi security source told the outlet that there were casualties among the Iraqi military.
Experts said the latest attacks are being translated as a form of retaliation from Iran days after Trump ordered an airstrike that killed top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. The Iranian side has since vowed revenge, with many citizens calling out the U.S. government for Soleimani's death.
In an interview with CNBC, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, Alex Vatanka, noted that while the world expected Tehran to retaliate, he did not expect that "it will come so fast and so furious."
Vatanka explained that it is unclear how Washington will react to the latest move by Iran, results of the investigation on the number of casualties and extent of damage on the stricken bases will play a key role in how the U.S. will establish its next move.
For Vatanka, the U.S. -Iran dispute will also have a huge impact on how Trump will handle the dispute moving forward, especially since the strikes took place at a crucial time in the U.S. president's run for reelection.
Senator Lindsey Graham said the missile strikes from Iran was "an act of war." Graham added that Trump could always depend on Article II to make a decision on how the U.S. should react to the latest in the U.S. -Iran dispute.
The U.S. Constitution's Article II states that the president is the "commander in chief" of the country's armed forces, although Trump has yet to confirm whether or not he will use this authority at this point.
Meanwhile, dozens were reported to have been killed during a stampede at the funeral procession for Soleimani. The Iranian military leader was laid to rest Tuesday in southeastern Iran's Kerman city.
