Welcome to pushback. I'm Aaron Mate. The threat of an immediate U.S.-Iran military conflict

has been averted. Iran responded to the U.S. murder of its top general, Qasem Soleimani,

with missile strikes on military bases, housing U.S. forces inside Iraq. But Iran avoided any

fatalities by giving advance warning to the Iraqi military,

which then alerted its U.S. counterparts.

In his first public comments at the White House,

President Trump appeared to accept military de-escalation for now,

while still promoting his administration's policy of so-called maximum pressure.

Our great American forces are prepared for anything.

Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned,

and a very good thing for the world.

As we continue to evaluate options in response to Iranian aggression,

the United States will immediately impose additional punishing economic sanctions on the Iranian regime.

These powerful sanctions will remain until Iran changes its behavior.

Sina Tusi is a senior research analyst at the National Iranian American Council.

Welcome, Sina, to pushback. What do you make of what has happened in the last 24 hours, Iran launching this attack?

Trump speaking today at the White House, appearing to welcome for now a de-escalation when

it comes to at least to military conflict.

Well, first, thanks very much for having me on.

I think the last 24 hours have been obviously incredibly dangerous.

It's really the closest we've gotten to a direct all-out U.S. Iran war since, you know,

U.S. Iran hostilities really developed after the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

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