SUNDAY 1:45 P.M. UPDATE:
Iranian state television reported Sunday evening that the country is abandoning the 2015 nuclear deal.
A statement by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s administration says they will no longer observe limitations on uranium enrichment or stockpiling, in addition to research and development limits around nuclear activities.
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ORIGINAL STORY:
President Trump is wrapping up a 17-day holiday at Mar-a-Lago.
Mr. Trump, First Lady Melania and their 13-year-old son, Barron, are scheduled to leave the estate and head to Palm Beach International Airport late Sunday afternoon.
The commander-in-chief has Iran on his mind as the time nears to return to Washington, D.C.
Early Sunday, he tweeted in response to Iran’s threats to attack American assets and allies in retaliation for last week’s killing of Irani General Qassem Soleimani:
The United States just spent Two Trillion Dollars on Military Equipment. We are the biggest and by far the BEST in the World! If Iran attacks an American Base, or any American, we will be sending some of that brand new beautiful equipment their way…and without hesitation!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2020
Trump spent part of Saturday taking in a few more rounds of golf at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, with Iran on his mind:
….targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2020
Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, & badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2020
Those tweets prompted Iranian MP Abolfazl Abutorabi to reportedly threaten to attack the White House. While responding to a question about how Iran should or could react to the death of Soleimani, he stated, “We can attack the White House itself, we can respond to them on the American soil. We have the power, and God willing we will respond in an appropriate time.”
Iraq has announced that it plans to expel 5,200 American troops who have been stationed there to fight the Islamic State, in response to Soleimani’s killing.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is sending 3,500 troops to the Middle East, in order to reinforce the region.