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.’
Iran’s President Rouhani issues chilling warning that the US made a ‘grave mistake’ and will face the consequences ‘for years to come’ after Soleimani’s family asks for revenge
The President of Iran has issued a chilling warning that the U.S. made a ‘grave mistake’ by killing the leader of Iran’s Quds force, Qassem Soleimani, in an airstrike and that it will face consequences for years to come.
In a visit to the notorious general’s house on Saturday, one of Soleimani’s daughter’s asked President Hassan Rhouani for revenge.
‘Who is going to avenge my father’s blood?’ she asked.
In response, he promised her that ‘everyone will take revenge’ and ‘we will, we will avenge his blood , you don’t worry.’
‘The Americans did not realize what a grave mistake they have made. They will suffer the consequences of such criminal measure not only today, but also throughout the years to come,’ Rouhani said.
‘This crime committed by the US will go down in history as one of their unforgettable crimes against the Iranian nation.’
Soleimani, 62, was killed in the early hours of Friday, local time, outside Baghdad’s International Airport in an airstrike ordered by President Donald Trump.
President Rouhani (right) speaking with General Soleimani’s daughters (left) on Saturday
Hours after the attack, Trump said that he ordered the killing of Soleimani to prevent war, adding that the commander was plotting ‘imminent and sinister’ attacks against Americans.
The general was the architect of Iran’s shadow warfare and military expansion in the Middle East and was targeted specifically because he was actively developing plans to kill members of the U.S. military and diplomats in the region.
‘We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war,’ the president said in brief remarks at Mar-a-Lago on Friday.
Rouhani has said that Iran has the right to seek revenge, saying that that retaliation will come when the ‘dirty hands of the US’ are removed from the region indefinitely.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatolla Ali Khamenei (pictured) with a member of Soleimani’s family during a visit to the family’s home on Friday evening
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatolla Ali Khamenei also visited the home on Friday evening where he said the airstrike that killed the architect of the country’s infamous militia was ‘villainous’.
‘Everyone is bereaved & grateful to your father. This gratitude is due to his great sincerity, since hearts are in God’s hands. Without sincerity, [people’s] hearts wouldn’t have been with him like this. May God bestow His blessings on all of us,’ he said, recounting the conversation in a tweet.
‘You saw people in many cities come out in numbers, with devotion. Wait to see his funeral. These blessings are before us to see the value of martyrdom. What a blessing for Hajj Qasem. He achieved his dream.’
In a series of other tweets following the meeting, Ayatollah Khamenei referred to the Trump administration as ‘villainous’ and condemned the airstrike.
‘Hajj Qasem Soleimani had been exposed to martyrdom repeatedly, but in performing his duty & fighting for the cause of God, he didn’t fear anyone or anything. He was martyred by the most villainous people, the US govt, & their pride in this crime is a distinguishing feature of him,’ he wrote on Saturday.
He also warned Iran’s ‘enemies’ that the Jihad of Resistance’ supposed victory will be ‘bitter.’