Trump says Soleimani should have been killed 'many years ago'

A worker at the Iranian embassy adjusts a poster of Qasem Soleimani, Iranian Revolutionary Guards top commander who was killed in a US strike on his convoy in Baghdad, at the the Iranian embassy in the Lebanese capital Beirut on January 3, 2020. PHOTO | ANWAR AMRO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • US president says Qasem Soleimani directly and indirectly responsible for the death of millions of people.

President Donald Trump said Friday that Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani—who was assassinated in a US strike—should have been killed long before.

In his first substantial comments on the operation, carried out earlier Friday at Baghdad's international airport, Trump tweeted that Soleimani "should have been taken out many years ago!"

Soleimani "has killed or badly wounded thousands of Americans over an extended period of time, and was plotting to kill many more...but got caught!" Trump said.

His only earlier comments on the dramatic news included a tweet featuring a picture of a US flag and another, cryptic tweet stating that "Iran never won a war, but never lost a negotiation!"