Donald Trump and his top diplomat, Mike Pompeo, have claimed Qassem Soleimani posed an “imminent” threat to American lives that justified the airstrike that killed him in Baghdad last night.
The US president said the Iranian general was “plotting to kill” US citizens, but neither he nor Mr Pompeo provided additional details to support the claim. Americans in Iraq have been urged to leave immediately in the wake of the killing.
Soleimani, the head of the elite Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force and Tehran’s most senior military commander in Iraq, was killed near Baghdad Airport alongside Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a high-ranking commander in Iraq’s militia.
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Welcome to The Independent's live coverage of reaction to the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, on the orders of Donald Trump.
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The Pentagon has confirmed it killed Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s most powerful general in Iraq, on the orders of Donald Trump, write Bel Trew and Andrew Buncombe.
Within an hour of news breaking that Soleimani, the head of the elite Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, had been killed in an airstrike at Baghdad Airport, the US said it had carried out the operation and claimed it acted to “deter future Iranian attack plans”.
“At the direction of the president, the US military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad by killing Qassem Soleimani,” a Pentagon statement said.
Pentagon confirms US has killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani
Supporters of military leader vow ‘rigorous revenge against America’
Muqtada al-Sadr has reactivated the anti-American Mahdi Army armed group in the wake of the US airstrike, according to the Agence France-Presse news agency.
The UK's former Middle East minister, Alistair Burt, has warned of the "unknowable consequences" of the US strike.
Brett McGurk, the former head of the anti-Isis coalition under Barack Obama and Donald Trump, has warned that America is now effectively at war with Tehran.
He told MSNBC: "As an American who has served a lot of time in Iraq, including in 2007, 2008 period when we were really in a very hot war with a lot of these Iranian-backed groups, I really feel that it's a measure of justice done.
"I have colleagues that were killed by some of these groups.
"I'm also hearing from former colleagues in the region a lot of concern, obviously, about where this goes.
"I think we need to presume, now, as a country, like it or not, we need to presume that we're in a state of war with Iran. This has been a covert war, a shadow war, for 40 years, but with this action I think we need to presume - to protect our people in the region, to protect our interests - that we're in a state of war with Iran."
Alistair Burt, the former Middle East minister, has warned that the consequences of the US airstrike are "unknowable".
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This will be seen as a huge potential escalation, the consequences are unknown, the United States will have had its reasons, but it's very important now to concentrate on what happens next and for everybody involved diplomatically to do everything they can to try and defuse the situation, to avoid this becoming an even more serious provocation."
The risk to British personnel in the region is "much greater" this morning as a result of the killing of Mr Soleimani, he added.
Mr Burt said: "The United States will no doubt say that personnel was at risk already from actions taken by the Iranians. The question is, to what extent have any of those consequences been satisfactorily resolved by this action, and it would seem at this stage very unlikely that there's a positive answer to that."
"A strike like this ... takes the confrontation between the United States and Iran to a completely different level," Alistair Burt added in his interview with Today.
"Any action where you cannot foresee the immediate consequences and take steps to prevent the most difficult consequences puts the region on edge."
Ilhan Omar, the freshman Democratic congresswoman, has said she will use her seat in the House to work against what she suggests is Donald Trump's plan for war with Iran.
The commander of an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq has ordered his fighters to be on high alert for battle.
"All fighters should be on high alert for upcoming battle and great victory.
"The price for the blood for the martyred commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis is the complete end to American military presence in Iraq," local TV channel al-Ahd quoted Qais al-Khazali as saying.
Joe Biden, the former vice president and frontrunner for the Democrats' 2020 presidential nomination, has warned that Donald Trump has "tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox" by killing Qassem Soleimani.
In a statement, Mr Biden said: "No American will mourn Qassem Soleimani's passing. He deserved to be brought to justice for his crimes against American troops and thousands of innocents throughout the region. He supported terror and sowed chaos.
"None of that negates the fact that this is a hugely escalatory move in an already dangerous region. The administration's statement says that its goal is to deter future attacks by Iran, but this action almost certainly will have the opposite effect.
"President Trump just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox, and he owes the American people an explanation of the strategy and plan to keep safe our troops and embassy personnel, our people and our interests, both here at home and abroad."
Iraq's prime minister has strongly condemned the killing of Mr Soleimani, who he said had been a "great symbol in achieving victory against the terrorist Isis".
Oil prices have jumped by nearly $3 after the airstrike.
Another bit from Joe Biden's statement: "I hope the administration has thought through the second- and third-order consequences of the path they have chosen.
"But I fear this administration has not demonstrated at any turn the discipline or long-term vision necessary, and the stakes could not be higher."
France's embassy in Tehran has warned its citizens to avoid public gatherings.
"Three days of mourning have been declared after the death of General Soleimani. In this context, we recommend French citizens to stay away from any gatherings and to behave with prudence and discretion and abstain from taking pictures in public spaces," it said in a statement on Twitter.
Preempting possible backlash amid accusations Israeli forces were involved in Mr Soleimani's assassination, the Israeli military said it had imposed a heightened alert state, writes Bel Trew.
Israeli authorities also closed the Mount Hermon ski resort near the border with Syria and Lebanon.
Benjamin Netanyahu made no comment on the killing. Israeli media reported cabinet ministers had been asked to keep silent so as not to drag the country into the conflict.
But political figures who held no government office were quick to praise the US’s actions. Gidon Saar, a veteran member of Mr Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, tweeted “Gold Bless America!” shortly after the news broke.
Yair Lapid, one of the leaders of the Blue and White alliance, a chief rival to the Likud meanwhile congratulated Mr Trump “and the Middle East”.
“[Mr Soleimani] is responsible for the murder of thousands of innocents and got exactly what he deserved. The Iranian regime is a terrorist regime, when faced with terror you act with force and determination. All those involved in Iran’s terror industry should know that their life is at risk,” he said.
This was Donald Trump's only tweet last night after the killing of Soleimani was announced.
The targeted killing of Iranian Maj-Gen Qassem Soleimani by US forces represents just the latest escalation in Donald Trump's long-running campaign to contrast himself with his predecessor by taking an increasingly aggressive posture towards Tehran, writes Andrew Feinberg.
Mr Trump took office in 2017 having promised to pull the US out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the agreement between Iran, the EU, and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
The agreement, which limited Iran's ability to enrich nuclear materials to weapons grade for 10 years, was widely seen as one of former president Barack Obama's major foreign policy accomplishments.
Killing of Qassem Soleimani marks new low in US-Iran relations
Analysis: Mood between Washington and Tehran has darkened since Donald Trump pulled US from 2015 nuclear dealRussia's foreign ministry has warned that the US airstrike will increase Middle East tensions.
Moscow is Iran's top ally.
Donald Trump's past comments on a potential war with Iran have resurfaced. In 2011 he claimed Barack Obama would initiate such a conflict because he was a poor negotiator.
Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina senator who has become one of Donald Trump's biggest boosters despite his previous opposition to the billionaire, has called for Washington to destroy Iran's oil refineries.
In a series of tweets, the Republican said: "Thank you, Mr. President, for standing up for America. This action by President Trump and our military was in direct response to Iranian aggression orchestrated by General Soleimani and his proxies.
"If Iran continues to attack America and our allies, they should pay the heaviest of prices, which includes the destruction of their oil refineries.
"To the Iranian government: If you want to stay in the oil business leave America and our allies alone and stop being the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world."
