WASHINGTON – The former head of Iran’s regional operations was plottingattacks on four U.S. embassies when he was killed, President Donald Trumpclaimed in excerpts of an interview that will air Friday.
Qasem Soleimani was killed Jan. 3 by a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad. U.S.officials claimed if he was not killed, hundreds of American lives wouldhave been lost.
Asked about the mysterious large-scale attacks that his administration hasso far refused to divulge details on, Trump told Fox News “I can revealthat I believe it probably would’ve been four embassies.”
Among the diplomatic buildings was the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Trump saidin the interview. That embassy was attacked in the days leading up toSoleimani’s killing in protests that were in retaliation for U.S. strikeson an Iran-backed militia group.
The Trump administration has maintained that the U.S. was facing an“imminent threat” when it carried out the strike on Soleimani, but detailshave so far been scant.
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Asked about the matter when addressing reporters at the White House earlierFriday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. had “specificinformation” that included threats to U.S. facilities including embassiesand military installations.
“We don’t know exactly which day it would’ve been executed. But it was veryclear: Qasem Soleimani himself was plotting a broad, large-scale attackagainst American interests. And those attacks were imminent,” he said.
Soleimani’s assassination put the U.S. and Iran on the brink of war, andTehran retaliated Jan. 8 by launch ballistic missile attacks on Iraqi baseshousing U.S. soldiers. -AA
