Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday defended the basis for killing Iranian General Qasem Soleimani because of the threat of an imminent strike but declined present any evidence, saying President Donald Trump’s decision was “entirely legal.”
“There’s been much made about this question of intelligence and imminence,” Pompeo said at the State Department. “Any time a president makes a decision of this magnitude, there are multitude pieces of information that come before him.”
Pompeo said that senior officials presented Trump with the threats “in broad detail.”
The top US diplomat didn’t offer any evidence of looming threats, but instead referred to past events that he said Soleimani was responsible for.
“We could see clearly everything Soleimani has done,” Pompeo said, pointing to Iran’s influence in Lebanon and other countries in the region where he said Tehran has denied people “sovereignty and freedom.”
This story is breaking and will be updated.
Click here for full coverage of the tensions between Iran and the United States.
