US President Donald Trump has defended the killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, calling him a “son of a bitch” whose actions left many paralysed.
Trump said this on Tuesday during a rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He said there were many “young men and women walking around without arms and without legs” because of Soleimani.
“Great percentages of people don’t have legs right now and arms because of this son of a bitch,” Trump said, adding that “he should have been killed 20 years ago.
The US President ordered the killing of Soleimani and Iran retaliated by firing ballistic missiles at two Iraqi bases housing U.S. forces.
Although no one was harmed in the strikes, Trump has since ordered additional sanctions on Iran rather than striking back.
Donald Trump has been criticised for his administration’s conflicting statements on the rationale behind the killing. Defence Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday said he never saw evidence that Iran was planning an attack on four U.S. embassies, as Trump had claimed two days earlier.
