WASHINGTON _ Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said there was no skepticism within the Trump administration about the intelligence behind the decision to kill a top Iranian general last week, and that any moves taken by the U.S. against Tehran will be "lawful."
"We'll behave inside the system," Pompeo said in an interview with ABC's "This Week," one of several he'll do with U.S. political talk shows.
The top U.S. diplomat was asked about President Donald Trump's threat on Saturday to hit "52 Iranian sites," including cultural targets, if Tehran retaliates. The tweet raised concerns because attacks against cultural property are prohibited under the Geneva Convention.
"I've seen what we're planning," Pompeo said. Every target "is lawful."
Pompeo spoke days after the U.S. killed top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Iraq, and hours after Trump ratcheted up the rhetoric against the Islamic Republic after saying on Friday that the U.S. isn't seeking to start a war.
Before Trump's tweets, sent from his Florida resort and which continued until the early hours of Sunday morning, Pompeo had stressed that the U.S. was committed to de-escalating tensions with Iran in a series of phone calls with his counterparts in Middle East and elsewhere.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, defended Trump actions and ramped-up Twitter threats against Iran.
"This president has shown _ he's not getting enough credit for it _ tremendous restraint," Rubio said in an interview with CBS's "Face the Nation."
Asked whether the administration had articulated evidence to Congress of a clear, imminent threat to the U.S. immediately before the Baghdad airstrike, Rubio responded, "I understand it, and it's called self-defense."
Senior Pentagon officials briefed staff members from the House Armed Service Committee and Senate Armed Service Committee on Friday about recent threats and attacks on U.S. personnel and interests, including the 11 attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq since October and attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Dec. 27.
Pompeo said on ABC that more Congressional briefings would come this week.
