Trump: Soleimani “was planning new attacks on American targets, but we stopped him”

Trump described the Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani killed in a US strike last week as “the world’s top terrorist.”

President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the White House on the ballistic missile strike that Iran launched against Iraqi air bases housing U.S. troops, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020, in Washington, as Vice President Mike Pence and others looks on. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

“He trained terrorist armies, including Hezbollah, launching terrorist strikes against civilian targets. He fueled bloody civil wars all across the region. He viciously wounded and murdered thousands of US troops, including the planting of roadside bombs that maim and dismember their victims.” 

Trump said Soleimani directed the recent attacks on US personnel in Iraq that “badly wounded four service members and killed one American” and he orchestrated “the violent assault” on the US Embassy on Baghdad.

“In recent days he was planning new attacks on American targets, but we stopped him,” Trump said.