BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 23. The Trump administration anticipated that Tehran would retaliate following U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend, and President Trump is not currently seeking further military escalation in the region, a senior White House official told U.S. media, Trend reports.
“We knew they would respond. They reacted the same way after the killing of Soleimani,” the official said, referring to Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian commander killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2020.
According to the official, initial assessments suggest that the missiles Iran launched on Monday failed to reach their intended targets. Qatar’s Ministry of Defense said its air defense systems intercepted the Iranian attack on the U.S. military base in the country.
Still, the official noted that President Trump is prepared to bolster the U.S. military presence if needed. Trump was scheduled to meet with his national security team Monday afternoon, and his stance could shift depending on how events unfold.