“We acted to prevent the war, not to start it,” US President Donald Trump said on Friday, referring to the American attack in Baghdad, which killed the head of the Iranian elite Al-Kuds forces, General Qasem Soleimani.



“Suleiman was planning close and brutal attacks on US diplomats and military personnel, but we caught him and eliminated him,” Trump added.



The US president assured that the Iranian military was behind the December attack on the American embassy in Iraq. He stated that Soleimani had a “sick passion” for killing innocent people, but his “terrorist rule ended”. Trump also warned Iran against exploiting his allies in the region and stressed that US action is not intended to change the authorities in Tehran. He asserted that the United States was “prepared for any response.”



(PAP)



