Iran Diplo Says His Nation Doesn’t Want War, but Will ‘Vigorously’ Answer Any Aggression Ravanchi Read Newsmax: Iran Diplo Says His Nation Doesn’t Want War, but Will ‘Vigorously’ Answer Any Aggression Urgent: Do you approve of Pres. Trump’s job performance? Vote Here Now!

Iran is informing the United Nations that it took “a measured and proportionate military response” to the U.S. airstrike that killed its top military commander and “does not seek escalation or war.”

But Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi warned that Tehran would “vigorously” respond to “any further military adventurism against it” and “any aggression.”

Ravanchi said in a letter late Wednesday to the U.N. Security Council and to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that Tehran this week “targeted an American air base in Iraq from which the cowardly armed attack against martyr (Qassem) Soleimani was launched.”

He said Iran was exercising its right to self-defense under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter.

“The operation was precise and targeted military objectives thus leaving no collateral damage to civilians assets in the area,” Ravanchi said, invoking Soleimani, Iran’s top military commander, killed in a U.S. airstrike that has roiled the Mideast.

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, says he believes Iran’s missile strikes on two Iraqi bases were intended to kill Americans.

Milley and Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters that 11 ballistic missiles that landed at al-Asad air base in western Iraq on Tuesday inflicted moderate damage, such as destroying or damaging tents and a helicopter, but no Americans were killed or injured.

The goal, however, was to cause U.S. casualties.

“I believe based on what I saw and what I know is that they were intended to cause structural damage, destroy vehicles and equipment and aircraft and to kill personnel,” Milley said.

Milley said the fact that no one was killed was due to the defensive procedures and the effectiveness of U.S. early-warning system.

As tensions ratchet up in the region, a handful of major shippers operating in the Persian Gulf are curtailing operations there.

Several oil tankers operated by major players have diverted away from the Persian Gulf or delayed loading by several days. That’s according to Reid I’Anson, global energy economist at Kpler, a data intelligence company.

I’Anson said a tanker chartered by Brazilian oil giant Petrobras was supposed to load up with oil in Basra on Jan. 5, but instead it left the Persian Gulf empty. He said another tanker operated by a major oil shipper has been idling in the Arabian Sea for about a week.

I’Anson says the disruptions are minor right now. But he said “that’s a lot of money to be out in the sea with no oil going nowhere.”

In 2018, some 21 million barrels per day passed through the Strait, a narrow waterway which connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. One-fifth of the oil consumed by the world passes through the narrow waterway, which Iranian officials threatened to close in April in response to U.S. sanctions.

In other fallout from the U.S.-Iran dust-up, Turkey’s national airline has temporarily cancelled flights to Iran and Iraq.

The official Anadolu news agency said Wednesday that Turkish Airlines flights would be suspended as a precaution until 1800 GMT Thursday.

Turkish Airlines flights will not use Iraqi and Iranian airspaces during this time and planes would change their routes, the agency said.

Commercial airlines are rerouting flights throughout the Middle East to avoid potential danger during heightened tensions between the United States and Iran.

Also Wednesday, a Ukrainian passenger jet crashed shortly after taking off from Iran’s capital killing 167 passengers and nine crew members just hours after Iran’s ballistic missile attack. Iranian officials said they suspected a mechanical issue. And U.S. intelligence officials say there’s no evidence the jetliner was shot down.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said 138 of the passengers were bound for Canada.. The flight also included a family of four and newlyweds, too. The manifest listed several teenagers and children, some as young as 1 or 2.

The crash ranked among the worst losses of life for Canadians in an aviation disaster. The flag over Parliament in Ottawa was lowered to half-staff, and Trudeau vowed to get to the bottom of the disaster.

“Know that all Canadians are grieving with you,” he said, addressing the victims’ families.