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It's "not totally unlike Trump to make a lot of noise" and then ultimately "back off a bit" when it comes to handling international conflicts — but that doesn't mean the dangers have passed, former congressman Ron Paul told RT.

Trump backed away from the idea of striking Iran in a much-anticipated address on Wednesday, as the two nations seemed to be on the brink of war over the US killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. He did, however, double down on promises of more crippling sanctions.

Paul told RT that while Trump's decision not to escalate militarily was positive, problems and dangers still exist because the president has "too many neocons around him trying to aggravate things."

He also called US sanctions on Iran an "act of war" in themselves, and said that Americans would be outraged if another country engaged in economic warfare and blockades against Washington. "There's a war going on" already through sanctions, he said.

Paul reiterated his long-standing view that the US should pull its troops out of Iraq and said that the US's "monstrosity of an embassy" in Baghdad was just "provoking" people into attacks on US personnel.

The former congressman and libertarian said that the US should be "very engaged" in the world, but through diplomacy and trade, rather than military aggression.

He also said the narrative of Iran as the aggressor or initiating force behind recent tensions is misleading, because in its position it simply "can't afford to be" an aggressor.

Although no one died in the Iranian missile strikes on US bases in Iraq, in part due to advance warning from Tehran, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he personally believed that Iran intended otherwise.

"I believe, based on what I saw and what I know, that [the strikes] were intended to cause structural damage, destroy vehicles and equipment and aircraft, and to kill personnel," Army General Mark Milley told reporters on Wednesday.

"That's my own personal assessment," he added. "But the analytics is in the hands of professional intelligence analysts. So they're looking at that."

Milley did not elaborate whether those were the same analysts who "assessed" the truthfulness of the now-debunked 'Russiagate,' or the equally phantom existence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, used to justify the 2003 invasion.

The overnight attacks on Al-Asad airbase and Erbil involved over a dozen ballistic missiles, fired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in revenge for the US drone strike that killed General Qassem Soleimani, one of the IRGC's top commanders.

The Iraqi government confirmed that it had received advance warning about the strikes from Iran, enabling US troops to take precautionary measures and activate their "finest in the world" air defenses. No lives were lost as a result.

Both Iran and the US declared victory and stood down on Wednesday morning, with US President Donald Trump describing the outcome as "a good thing for all parties concerned."

It was a stunning turn from Tuesday's hard line championed by Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and not everyone at the Pentagon seems happy about it, if Milley's comments are anything to go by.

'Worst military briefing ever'

Pentagon officials sent to Capitol Hill to brief lawmakers on the almost-war apparently didn't do too well either. Emerging from the classified briefing, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) gave a blistering denunciation of what he heard as "probably the worst briefing I've seen, at least on a military issue," adding that the military could not name a single instance in which they would feel it necessary to ask for congressional approval.

Exact details of the briefing are classified, but Lee hinted that the military apparently told lawmakers that they could not debate or discuss the strike that killed Soleimani, or whether a military intervention against Iran was legal, as that would signal division and weakness to Tehran.

"It is not acceptable for officials within the executive branch of government...to come in and tell us that we can't debate and discuss the appropriateness of military intervention against Iran," Lee fumed afterward. "It's un-American. It's unconstitutional and it's wrong."

Lee and fellow Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) said the briefing convinced them to change their mind and support the War Powers resolution proposed by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), Hillary Clinton's 2016 running mate.

"The foreign ministry rejects these attacks and considers them a violation of Iraqi sovereignty. It stresses that Iraq is an independent state and that its internal security is its priority. We will not allow it to become a battlefield," the ministry said in a statement.

Commenting on the attacks, the office of Iraqi President Barham Saleh condemned the missile strikes, while saying in a statement that Iraq "has previously declared its refusal to be a starting point for aggression against any country, and also refuses to be a source of threat to any of its neighbours.

Vice President Mike Pence in an interview said the United States has received intelligence indicating that Iran has asked militias not to target Americans in the wake of the killing of commander Qesem Soleimani.

"We're receiving some encouraging intelligence that Iran is sending messages to those very same militias not to move against American targets or civilians. And we hope that that message continues to echo," Pence told CBS News on Wednesday.

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The UK government says it is looking into "very concerning" reports that the Ukrainian Boeing passenger airliner that crashed near Tehran this week, killing all 176 on board, may have been hit by a missile.

Johnson has said that there needs to be "a full, credible and transparent investigation into what happened," according to his spokesman.

The remarks come after Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's Security Council, told Ukrainian media that officials were working on a number of theories regarding the crash, including that of a missile strike "as information has surfaced on the internet about elements of a missile being found near the site of the crash."

Ukraine had initially suggested that the crash was due to an engine fire or another technical issue, but later retracted the statement. President Zelensky cautioned the public against spreading conspiracy theories and speculating on what could have caused the crash - which has already been named the deadliest in the history of modern Ukraine.

Iranian civil aviation authorities rejected as 'scientifically impossible' the media reports that the Ukrainian passenger jet departing Tehran was shot down by a missile, and called the scenario 'illogical rumors'.

"Scientifically, it is impossible that a missile hit the Ukrainian plane, and such rumours are illogical," Ali Abedzadeh, head of Iran's of Civil Aviation Organization, said on Thursday, according to the news agency ISNA.

Iranian civil aviation authorities considered the possibility that the plane was shot down, but dismissed it because the plane attempted to return to the airport. Ukrainian officials cited a photo of missile debris that "was published on the internet" as possible evidence of an attack, but Iranian authorities say the photos do not match physical evidence.

"No parts of a missile were found at the scene of the crash," civil aviation inspector Hassan Rezaeifar told the IRNA news agency, describing the missile scenario as "off the table."

Eyewitnesses observed a fire on the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 while it was still airborne, Iran's civil aviation organization noted. The aircraft attempted to return to Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport before crashing, killing all 176 people on board, the organization said. The Iranian investigators confirmed that no distress calls or messages were received from the pilot before the plane hit the ground.

Security cameras captured the very first seconds of a Ukrainian Boeing 737-800 crash near Tehran, showing the site being strewn with burning debris.

Kiev will establish if its airliner, which crashed near Tehran with 176 on board, was hit by a 'Russian-made' missile, collided with a drone, or was targeted by terrorists, a Ukrainian security council official has said.

Ukraine has sent dozens of investigators to Iran to look into possible causes of the crash, including "an explosion inside the plane following a terrorist attack," collision with an unmanned aerial vehicle, or a direct hit by "a surface-to-air missile," Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the security council, told Censor news outlet.

Kiev is now in talks with Tehran regarding access to the crash site, the official added. They said investigators will search it for any "wreckage of a Russian-[made] Tor missile," referring to allegations that popped up on social media.

Iran has acquired 29 Tor-M1 missile systems over a decade ago, receiving delivery of the final batch in 2007. Developed back in Soviet Union, the all-weather, short-range system has been immensely popular with armies across the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.

That claim may not sit well with Iran's preliminary findings, which it disclosed earlier in the day. The country's civil aviation authority said the Boeing 737-800, operated by Ukraine International Airlines, caught fire when it was airborne. Pilots tried to return to Imam Khomeini airport from which they departed, but to no avail. They made no distress calls during the emergency, it has emerged.

On Wednesday, Ukraine had initially suggested that the crash was due to an engine fire or another technical issue, but later retracted the statement. Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky cautioned the public against spreading conspiracy theories and speculating on what could have cause the crash - which has already been named the deadliest in the history of modern Ukraine.

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