Trump talks of war in cryptic tweet after top Iran commander Soleimani’s death | World News - Hindustan Times
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Trump talks of war in cryptic tweet after top Iran commander Soleimani’s death

Hindustan Times, Washington | ByYashwant Raj
Aug 17, 2020 02:53 AM IST

Soleimani was killed in a US airstrike on a convoy of cars near the Baghdad airport Thursday, along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi militia commander.

US President Donald Trump spoke of war in his first remarks after the killing of Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps-Quds Force (IRGC) , at his direction. US officials have said the Iranian general posed “imminent threats” to Americans in Iraq and the region.

US President Donald Trump spoke of war in his first remarks after the killing of Qasem Soleimani(REUTERS)
US President Donald Trump spoke of war in his first remarks after the killing of Qasem Soleimani(REUTERS)

Soleimani was killed in a US airstrike on a convoy of cars near the Baghdad airport Thursday, along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi militia commander.

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“Iran never won a war, but never lost a negotiation!” President Trump wrote in a cryptic tweet Friday morning in his first remarks on the killing, in a clear reference to the Iran deal from which he withdrew in May 2018, calling it a “horrible one-sided deal”. Thus far, his only response had been a tweet of the American flag.

Watch: Qasem Soleimani killed by a US air strike, all you need to know

 

The reference to “war” was taken by experts as a warning to Iran of consequences to a retaliatory strike, which has been signaled by Teheran. The US is prepared for all eventualities, officials have said. As a precautionary measure, the state department has asked US citizens to leave Iraq “immediately”.

The president followed up with more posts, subsequently saying Soleimani had “killed or badly wounded thousands of Americans over an extended period of time, and was plotting to kill many more...but got caught! He was directly and indirectly responsible for the death of millions of people, including the recent large number.”

He went on to claim Soleimani was “both hated and feared” in Iran and that Iranians are not “nearly as saddened as the leaders will let the outside world believe. He should have been taken out many years ago!”

In phone calls to counterparts in Germany, China and the UK, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States remained “committed to de-escalation”, according to readouts of those calls released by the state department. He described the killing as a “defensive action” taken in “response to imminent threats to American lives”.

Soleimani was considered the second most powerful man in the Iranian government after the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and he was said to be a charismatic general who was widely respected and revered by the forces.

A retaliatory response was expected from Iran, which could potentially plunge West Asia, an area already at the edge, into a military conflict with severe implications for world oil prices and related issues.

“At the direction of the President, the US military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani,” the US department of defense said in a statement late Thursday, adding, IRGC-QF was a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.

The Pentagon said Soleimani was “actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region”.

And went on to hold him responsible for “the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more”.

The Pentagon said Soleimani had orchestrated multiple attacks on US-led 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.

“General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that took place this week,” it said.

The US defense department said the a airstrike “aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans” and warned that it will continue to “take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world”.

The United States designated IRGC a foreign terrorist organization in April, making it the first government agency so proscribed by the US. And Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had declared Soleimani a terrorist shortly after, setting him up as a possible military target.

“He’s a terrorist. Qassem Soleimani has the blood of Americans on his hands, as do the forces he leads,” Pompeo told Fox news. “America is determined each time we find an organization, institution or an individual that has taken the lives of individuals, it is our responsibility to reduce that risk.”

The Iranian general’s killing quickly became political with the president’s rivals. “No American will mourn Qassem Soleimani’s passing,” said former vice-president Joe Biden in a statement. “He deserved to be brought to justice for his crimes against American troops and thousands of innocents throughout the region. He supported terror and sowed chaos.”

But Biden, who is the top contender for the Democratic nomination to take on Trump in November, added, “None of that negates the fact that this is a hugely escalatory move in an already dangerous region”. Serious concerns were expressed by others of a retaliatory strike from Iran.

Experts were unanimous about an impending response but they were unsure about the time and place. Or, the magnitude.

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