Mike Pompeo said that the escalation in Iran that led to the killing of military leader Qasem Soleimani comes from Barack Obama 'appeasing' the country during his time as president.

The Secretary of State made the rounds on Sunday morning political news shows after President Dondald Trump ordered an attack on an Iraqi airport in Baghdad that killed top Iranian military general Soleimani on Friday.

While on CNN's State of the Nation, he said: 'Obama appeased Iran. It is important that they understand that America will no longer behave the way that it did during the Obama/Biden administration. We will no longer appease, we will no longer tolerate.

Mike Pompeo said that the escalation in Iran that led to the killing of military leader Qasem Soleimani comes from Barack Obama 'appeasing' the country during his time as president

While on CNN's State of the Nation, he said: 'Obama appeased Iraq. It is important that they understand that America will no longer behave the way that it did during the Obama/Biden administration. We will no longer appease, we will no longer tolerate

'Frankly, this war kicked off when the JCPOA was entered into,' he continued in a hit at the former president's so-called Iran nuclear deal, which Trump withdrew the U.S. from in May 2018.

Friday's airstrike came after the American embassy in Baghdad, which has never been breached before, was raided on New Year's Eve by demonstrators who support Iran-backed Iraqi Shia militia.

The raid on the embassy and killing of Soleimani followed continued escalation in the region.

Pompeo said that Soleimani's death has already made the U.S. and the world a safer place.

But he also told NBC anchor Chuck Todd on Meet the Press on Sunday morning that he expects some retaliation for the attack.

'We're definitely safer today, 100 per cent certainty that America is safer today,' Pompeo said.

Pompeo said Trump was ''focused deeply on keeping Americans safe over the long haul. Preserving, protecting, defending America is the mission that we have'

Pompeo hit out at former president Barack Obama's (left) so-called Iran nuclear deal. He also brought up former Vice President Joe Biden (right) and his claim he did not oppose Obama's decision to kill Osama bin Laden when he told reporters in 2012 he told then-president 'don't go'.

'We do expect retaliation against American citizens now, correct?' Todd aksed the secretary of the Department of State.

'You're concentrating on the second and the moment. President Trump is focused deeply on keeping Americans safe over the long haul. Preserving, protecting, defending America is the mission that we have,' Pompeo said.

'It may be that there's a little noise here in the intermittent, that the Iranians make the choice to respond. I hope that they don't.

'President Trump has made clear what we will do in response if they do. That our response will be decisive and vigorous just as it has been so far.'

In his Sunday morning criticism of the Obama administration, Pompeo also brought up former Vice President Joe Biden, and the 2020 presidential candidate's claim that he did not oppose Obama's decision to attack and kill then-al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May 2011.

The Secretary of State made the rounds on Sunday morning political news shows after President Dondald Trump ordered an attack on an Iraqi airport in Baghdad that killed top Iranian military general Soleimani on Friday

While on the campaign trail in Iowa, Biden changed his story about the 2011 Navy SEAL mission that resulted in bin Laden's death.

'As Commander in Chief, if you were ever handed a piece of intelligence that said you could stop an imminent attack on Americans — but you have to use an airstrike to take out a terrorist leader — would you pull the trigger?' a Fox News reporter asked Biden.

Biden, who was VP at the time said: 'Well we did - the guy's name was Osama bin Laden.'

'Didn't you tell President Obama not to go after bin Laden that day?' the reporter followed up.

'No, I didn't,' Biden asserted before getting on his campaign bus.

That is in a contradiction to a story Biden told eight years ago during a 2012 congressional Democrat retreat in Maryland, where he described a tense 2011 strategy session ahead of the raid.

'Mr. President, my suggestion is, don't go - we have to do two more things to see if he's there,' Biden said of the strategy session at the time.

Solemani was classified as a terrorist by the Obama administration.

Solemani, whose funeral drew thousands of people on Saturday, was classified as a terrorist by the Obama administration.

Iranian mourners react as Soleimani's body passes by them at his funeral in Iraq

Supporters of Hezbollah carry Hezbollah flags and pictures of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Lieutenant general and commander of the Quds Force Qasem Soleimani as they shout slogans 'Death to America'

Several politicians and political pundits have criticized Trump's directive to take out the Iranian terrorist leader, but the president insists more attacks will come if Iran decides to retaliate against the latest hit.

He specifically said in a tweet Saturday that the U.S. would carry out attacks on '52 Iranian sites,' which he said was 'representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago.'