US Totally Prepared For Any Iranian Attack, Says Donald Trump Amid Tehran Threats

The US is prepared for any attack by Iran, President Donald Trump said, amid tensions over the killing of top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in an American drone attack last week in Iraq. "We are totally prepared" for any Iranian attack, he told reporters. Qasem Soleimani, the popular head of the Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations arm, was killed in a US drone strike outside Baghdad airport on Friday, ratcheting up tensions between the arch-foes.

“He (Soleimani) was a terrorist. He was so designated by president Obama, as you know, and he wasn’t even supposed to be outside of his own country,” he said in response to a question.

Trump said in a recent attack that Soleimani was in charge of, people were horribly wounded. “One dead. In fact, the number now as of this morning I believe is two dead. That was his. He was travelling with the head of the Hezbollah, he said.

“They weren’t there to discuss a vacation. They weren’t there to go to a nice resort in Baghdad. They were there to discuss their business. We saved a lot of lives by terminating his life, a lot of lives were saved,” Trump said.

They were planning something and people will hear about it, at least some people in Congress are going to be hearing about it tomorrow, the president said.

Who Was General Qasem Soleimani?

Soleimani was one of the most popular figures in Iran and seen as a deadly adversary by America and its allies. General Soleimani, who headed the external operations Quds Force for the Guards, had wielded his regional clout publicly since 2018 when it was revealed that he had direct involvement in top-level talks over the formation of Iraq's government. It was no surprise at the time for a man who has been at the centre of power-broking in the region for two decades.

Soleimani has been in and out of Baghdad ever since, most recently last month as parties sought to form a new government. Where once he kept to the shadows, Soleimani has in recent years become an unlikely celebrity in Iran -- replete with a huge following on Instagram.

His profile rose suddenly when he was pushed forward as the public face of Iran's intervention in the Syrian conflict from 2013, appearing in battlefield photos, documentaries -- and even being featured in a music video and animated film. In a rare interview aired on Iranian state television in October, he said he was in Lebanon during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war to oversee the conflict.

To his fans and enemies alike, Soleimani was the key architect of Iran's regional influence, leading the fight against jihadist forces and extending Iran's diplomatic heft in Iraq, Syria and beyond. "To Middle Eastern Shiites, he is James Bond, Erwin Rommel and Lady Gaga rolled into one," wrote former CIA analyst Kenneth Pollack in a profile for Time's 100 most influential people in 2017.