“We are not looking to start a war with Iran, but we are prepared to finish one,” he said, adding that Washington wants to see the situation de-escalate.<\/p>\n
Senators are reportedly set to be briefed on the airstrike by top administration officials on Wednesday. Some reports suggest that there is some dispute about whether the available intelligence clearly shows that Soleimani posed enough of an imminent threat to justify Trump’s drastic move<\/a>.<\/p>\n After Esper spoke, President Donald Trump said at the White House that Soleimani was planning a big attack. He also told reporters in the Oval Office that a lot of lives were saved by killing Soleimani. The U.S., he said, is prepared for possible retaliation by Iran.<\/p>\n Earlier in the day, the nation’s top diplomat said that the U.S. “got it right” by killing Soleimani.<\/p>\n “It was the right decision. We got it right. The Department of Defense did excellent work. And the president had an entirely legal, appropriate and a basis as well as a decision that fit perfectly within our strategy in how to counter the threat of malign activity from Iran more broadly,” said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.<\/p>\n Pompeo, speaking to reporters at the State Department, also maintained that the U.S. will act in accordance with international law, after Trump repeatedly said that the U.S. could threaten Iranian “cultural sites”<\/a> \u2014 a possible war crime.<\/p>\n