Pompeo: Qasem Soleimani was killed to stop a plot against 500 Americans

Shafaq News/ The former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revealed that the United States killed Iran's former top military commander Qassem Soleimani to stop a plot against 500 Americans.

In an interview with the Al Arabiya channel, Pompeo said, "General Soleimani was engaged in a plot to kill another 500 Americans. We had the opportunity to take down that plot, and we did."

The US Official underestimated the Iranian warnings after killing Soleimani,  "Much like the warnings that said if you want to withdraw from the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - Iran nuclear deal) there will be war, and much like the warnings that said if the United States moves its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, there will be war, there were warnings that said if you strike at General Soleimani, there will be war."

"Well, we didn't just do one of those or two of those. We did each of those three things, and there was no war," he said.

"We had been watching what the Quds Force was up to," he said. "And so in that sense, it was a project that we had been engaged in continuously, and then we had this opportunity to stop what was an imminent attack on US resources, US assets, US people, and ... the president decided just to do that."

Concerning Joe Biden's approach to Iran, the former minister pointed out, "We know who the Iranian regime is; these are evil theocrats intent on destroying Israel and the United States of America. We ought not to be negotiating to figure out how much money to give them in exchange for a temporary promise for just a moment to slow down their enrichment and weapons program."

"We know they (Iran) lied about that program's history the first time. So why would we negotiate with someone who has lied about their nuclear program?" said Pompeo.

Reporting the interview, Iran's Fars News Agency, affiliated with the IRGC, headlined "Banquet of Murderers."