Washington (CNN) Pete Buttigieg on Sunday was reluctant to characterize the US drone strike that killed a top Iranian military leader as an "assassination" despite previously characterizing it as one, saying he's "not interested in the terminology."

Asked by CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" if he believed, like some of his fellow 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, that Qasem Soleimani's killing was an "assassination," the former South Bend, Indiana mayor, dodged the question.

"I am not interested in the terminology. I'm interested in the consequences, and I'm interested in the process. Did the President have legal authority to do this? Why wasn't Congress consulted? It seems like more people at Mar-a-Lago heard about this than people in the United States Congress who are a coequal branch of government with a responsibility to consult. Which of our allies were consulted? The real world effects of this are going to go far beyond the things that we are debating today and we need answers quickly," he said.

During a Saturday event in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, Buttigieg told voters, "When you do something as provocative as assassinate a significant foreign official on the soil of a third country, you better think through all of the things that are going to happen next."

His comments come amid escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington following a series of US attacks in the region, including one last week in Iraq that killed Soleimani and several others. Though President Donald Trump has claimed Soleimani was planning attacks on US forces and that the action was taken "to stop a war," he vowed specific military action against Iran if it "strikes any Americans, or American assets."

Read More