What You Need To Know | The United States Has Brought the Terrorist Leader Qassem Soleimani to Justice

• 

• 

President Trump directed the United States military to carry out a decisive operation against the terrorist leader Soleimani in order to protect American personnel.

·       The President directed this action to defend American lives and prevent further bloodshed.

·  This was a defensive action aimed at preventing terrorist leader Soleimani from initiating attacks he was actively developing against American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.

·  The strike was also aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans and the President will continue to take all necessary action to protect American lives around the world.

·       President Trump has offered to talk without preconditions at any time and continues to seek a peaceful resolution with Iran.

·   The United States has shown great restraint and provided ample opportunity for the Iranian regime to behave like a normal country.

·       As a result of President Trump’s leadership, the chief terrorist of the world’s largest terrorist organization will no longer be able to spread death and chaos across the region and the world.

·   The terrorist leader Soleimani was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans, including directing and arming Shia militias that killed over 600 Americans in Iraq between 2005 and 2011. 

 ·    Millions of people were killed by Soleimani and he was plotting to kill more in the near future before we caught him in the act. 

·    Soleimani was hated and feared across the Middle East and should have been taken out many years ago.

·       Under Soleimani, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force has waged a decades-long campaign of terrorism and violence against the United States and our allies.

·  Qods Force was directed by Soleimani to plan and conduct terrorist attacks around the globe, including in the United States.  

 ·   Soleimani was designated as a Tier I terrorist by the United States and had been sanctioned by the United States, the United Nations, and the European Union.    

·       There is no greater priority for President Trump than the safety of Americans and the President will respond if Iran retaliates.

·   We have many response options available should Iran choose to go in the wrong direction and retaliate.

President Trump exercised our clear and inherent right of self-defense to counter the threat of additional attacks from Iran and its proxies.

·       The President directed this action consistent with his responsibility to protect United States citizens and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests.

·       President Trump exercised his constitutional authority to conduct United States foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive and, for actions in Iraq, pursuant to Public Law 107-243. 

·       After the operation was conducted, members of Congress were notified and will continue to be briefed, pursuant to the law.

·       The United States will always defend our interests against terrorist attacks. 

This operation follows recent attacks directed by Soleimani against Americans and American interests in the region. 

·       Soleimani recently directed a series of attacks against American forces in Iraq – escalating Iran’s campaign of violence and terrorism.

   ·   Soleimani directed a rocket attack on December 27^th which killed an American contractor and wounded four American service members. 

·   Soleimani ordered the assault on the American Embassy in Baghdad. 

·       Over the last few days, Soleimani had been traveling in the Middle East to coordinate imminent attacks by Iranian proxies against American citizens, our allies, and our interests.  

Soleimani directed horrific acts of violence and terror around the world for years – including against American personnel and on American soil.

·       Soleimani organized the attempted assassination of the Saudi ambassador to the United States in Washington, DC in 2011, overseeing a terrorist attack attempt on American soil.

·       Soleimani provided deadly explosively formed projectiles (EFPs), advanced weaponry, training, and guidance Iraqi insurgents used to conduct attacks on U.S. and coalition forces.

·   These efforts were directly responsible for the deaths of 603 U.S. service members, along with thousands of wounded.

·       Soleimani directed the January 20, 2007 attack on the Provincial Joint Coordination Center in Karbala, Iraq, in which five captured U.S. soldiers were executed.

·       Soleimani oversaw the IRGC’s financial, logistical, and military support to the Taliban and sponsored attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan.

·       Soleimani provided missiles and other advanced weapons to terrorists throughout the Middle East, who use the weapons to target and kill innocents.

·   These missiles and weapons have gone to terrorist groups like Lebanese Hizballah, Kata’ib Hizballah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and the Taliban.

·       Soleimani directed terrorist plots to bomb innocent civilians in Turkey and Kenya in 2011.

·       Soleimani supported the murderous regime in Syria, aiding and abetting Assad’s brutal abuses against the Syrian people.

·       Soleimani played a direct role in financing, equipping, and training Lebanese Hizballah forces conducting terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians during Hizballah’s 2006 campaign.

·       In Yemen, Soleimani’s Qods Force has orchestrated and enabled the launch of missiles that have resulted in the deaths of dozens of people in the region.

  ·    The targets of these missiles have included civilian airports in Saudi Arabia.

###