BAGHDAD, Iran, Jan. 2, 2020 (Gephardt Daily/UPI) — Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) has released a statement on social media reacting to the news that U.S. forces killed the head of Iran’s elite Quds military force in a drone attack at the Baghdad Airport.
Confirmation of the attack was provided in a statement by the U.S. Department of Defense Thursday night.
“At the direction of the president, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force,” the Department of Defense statement said.
Romney reacted to the news in a series of tweets at 9 p.m.
“Qasem Soleimani was a depraved terrorist who had the blood of hundreds of American servicemen and women on his hands, and who was doubtlessly planning operations to further harm our citizens and allies,” Romney said.
“We remember and honor the sacrifice of those servicemen and women, and we commend our brave troops and intel officers who carried out this successful mission. At this time of increased tension in the region, the U.S. must take necessary steps to protect our personnel there and beyond.
“With ever increasing challenges confronting us in the Middle East, it’s imperative that the U.S. and our allies articulate and pursue a coherent strategy for protecting our security interests in the region. I will be pressing the Administration for additional details in the days ahead.”
The Department of Defense accused Soleimani of developing plans to attack U.S. diplomats and service members in the Middle East and held him and the military force he oversees as responsible for the deaths of hundreds of U.S. and coalition service members and wounding thousands more.
The department also said Soleimani had approved this week’s attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq and orchestrated the Dec. 27 attack on a northern Iraqi military base in which a U.S. contractor was killed.
“This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans,” the DOD said. “The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world.”
Following news of Soleimani’s death, Donald Trump tweeted a picture of the American flag.
The U.S. designated Iran’s secretive elite military force as a terrorist group in April and has been putting both diplomatic and economic pressure on the Middle Eastern country, which the United States accuses of conducting attacks through proxies to disrupt the region.
The attack came hours after U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper warned Iran that continued attacks against U.S. forces would be met with a military response.
“To Iran and its proxy militias: We will not accept continued attacks against our personnel and forces in the region,” Esper said in a statement. “Attacks against us will be met with responses in the time, manner and place of our choosing. We urge the Iranian regime to end their malign activities.”
Esper later told reporters the United States was prepared “to exercise self-defense, and we are prepared to deter further bad behavior from these groups, all of which are sponsored and directed and resourced by Iran.”
For two days this week rioters tried to overrun the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, a response to American air strikes on the pro-Iranian militia group Kata’ib Hezbollah. The Iranian-backed fighters belonged to the for rocket attacks in Syria that threatened U.S. troops and killed an American contractor December 27th.
The U.S. responded, killing 25 Kata’ib Hezbollah fighters and injuring 51.
On New Year’s Eve, Trump told reporters from his Mar-a-Largo resort that he didn’t want war with Iran.
“I want to have peace,” he said. “I like peace. And Iran should want peace more than anybody. So, I don’t see that happening. No, I don’t think Iran would want that to happen. It would go very quickly.”
