2 min readNew DelhiJan 3, 2020 08:16 PM IST
First published on: Jan 3, 2020 at 10:34 AM IST
Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force, at an annual rally commemorating the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)
US President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guard General Qasen Soleimani, in an airstrike on Baghdad International Airport on Friday morning. “At the direction of the President, the US military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,” the White House said on Twitter.
Today’s retaliatory attack comes two days after Trump had said war with Iran was not a good idea even as he threatened Tehran over the American embassy attack in Baghdad by Iraqi supporters of pro-Iranian regime factions.
Claiming that General Soleimani was behind the “orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq” on December 27, the White House further added: “He (Soleimani) had orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months – including the attack on December 27th – culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel.”
“The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world,” Pentagon asserted.
Meanwhile, Trump on Twitter posted an image of the US flag, hours after the attack in Baghdad.
Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force, at an annual rally commemorating the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)
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