US President Donald Trump on Friday said that the top Iranian commander killed in a U.S. air strike, Qassem Soleimani, was planning to kill Americans.
“General Qassem Soleimani has 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 of PROTESTERS killed in Iran itself. While Iran will never be able to properly admit it, Soleimani was both hated and feared within the country. They are not nearly as saddened as the leaders will let the outside world believe. He should have been taken out many years ago!,” Trump wrote in a tweet.
In his first substantial comments on the operation, carried out earlier Friday at Baghdad’s international airport, Trump tweeted that Soleimani “should have been taken out many years ago!”
Soleimani “has killed or badly wounded thousands of Americans over an extended period of time, and was plotting to kill many more...but got caught!” Trump said.
His only earlier comments on the dramatic news included a tweet featuring a picture of a US flag and another, cryptic tweet stating that “Iran never won a war, but never lost a negotiation!”