The House Foreign Affairs Committee has invited Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to testify at a meeting on Jan. 14 regarding escalating tensions in Iran, per a release Tuesday.
Why it matters: The meeting will give the Democrat-led committee a chance to question the decision to strike Iraq and ultimately kill Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, but it is unclear whether Pompeo will attend.
- Pompeo has been a key spokesperson for the administration in the days following the drone strike, defending the decision by pointing to Soleimani's intentions to attack U.S. diplomats and service members.
What Pompeo's saying:
- "If you're looking for imminence," Pompeo said Tuesday, "look no further than the days that led up to the strike that was taken against Soleimani."
- “Iran has refused to join the regional and international consensus for peace and is, in fact, actively working to undermine the peace process by continuing its long global effort to support militant groups there,” he said at a State Department news conference on Tuesday, per Reuters.
Go deeper: The Trump administration's mixed messages on the Soleimani strike
