NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel reported Friday that Iraqi President Barham Salih is "deeply concerned" over a possible "cycle of violence" in the country following President Trump Donald John TrumpBarr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power 'is invested in the attorney general' Military leaders asked about using heat ray on protesters outside White House: report Powell warns failure to reach COVID-19 deal could 'scar and damage' economy MORE's decision to order an airstrike that killed one of Iran's top military figures, Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

“This country is extremely divided, it is extremely fragile. Earlier today I spoke on the telephone with the President of Iraq, Barham Salih, someone who I’ve known personally for many years now, and he’s deeply concerned,” Engel said during a live report on MSNBC. “You could hear it in his voice.”

“He’s worried that once more in Iraq, you’re gonna have a cycle of violence, you’re gonna see sectarian killings, you’re gonna see divisions, because there are real tensions here,” the correspondent continued.

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Engel said the Green Zone in Baghdad, where many U.S. forces are located, could be a particular hot spot for escalation.

“In the middle of Baghdad you have what is still often called the Green Zone. That is the area where the U.S. embassy is located, that is the area where quite a number of American forces are located, primarily protecting the embassy, but also with other missions,” Engel noted.

“Around them, not very far away from them, are Shiite neighborhoods that tomorrow are going to be out commemorating, celebrating the martyrdom of these two figures, and they’re going to be blaming the United States," he added.

"They’re going to be in quite close proximity, so there could be some tension. There could be an escalation.”

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On Friday, President Trump explained his order for an airstrike that killed Soleimani at Baghdad International Airport one day prior, stating he authorized the strike “to stop a war," and that the "termination" of the general was a preventative measure.

“What the United States did yesterday should have been done long ago. A lot of lives would have been saved,” Trump said in a short address from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. “We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war.”

“Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel, but we caught him in the act and terminated him,” the president added, describing the action as a “flawless, precision strike.”