Pompeo in Iran damage control? US ‘committed to de-escalation,’ Soleimani killing ‘saved American lives’

3 Jan, 2020 12:54 / Updated 58 minutes ago

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FILE PHOTO Mike Pompeo (center) © Tom Brenner / Reuters Washington wants to ease the tensions in the Middle East, while defending the killing of Iranian elite Quds Force commander as “defensive action.”

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo assured everyone that Washington wants to ease the tensions in the Middle East, while defending the killing of Iranian elite Quds Force commander as “defensive action.”

Pompeo made his remarks after speaking over the phone with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and Yang Jiechi, the head of the Chinese ruling Communist Party’s Foreign Affairs Commission.

“The US remains committed to de-escalation,” Pompeo said.

A US drone strike killed Major General Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad’s airport on Friday morning. The Pentagon later revealed that the raid was personally greenlighted by US President Donald Trump.

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“The President's decision to remove Soleimani from the battlefield saved American lives,” Pompeo told CNN.

The US top diplomat added that Soleimani was “actively plotting” to “take big action… that would have put hundreds of lives at risk.”

Tehran, in turn, slammed the airstrike as “international terrorism.” The Iraqi authorities, on whose soil Soleimani was killed, blasted the raid as well. The operation was a “flagrant violation” of Iraqi sovereignty, the country’s Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi said. Lebanon has also joined in the condemnation