State Department officials involved in security matters for U.S. embassies were not alerted to the “imminent” threats cited by Trump administration officials as justification for the killing of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.
Two State Department officials told CNN on Monday that they were not made aware of the specific nature of the threat and that the department didn’t issue any warnings of specific dangers to any U.S. embassy before the targeted drone strike. The department sent a warning to all U.S. embassies before Soleimani’s killing, but it did not warn of an imminent attack.
The Trump administration has said Soleimani’s killing was a defensive measure to prevent imminent attacks that would have threatened American lives, but officials have been vague about the timing and manner of the threat.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week “a series of imminent attacks” were being plotted by Soleimani, but he said the United States didn’t “know precisely when and we don’t know precisely where.”
President Trump said the same day that the Iranians were planning to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. A day later, he said he thought the Iranians would target four embassies.
However, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Sunday he had not seen intelligence that stated Iran was planning to attack four embassies.
