President Trump authorized an airstrike that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani late Thursday Eastern time while he was at Baghdad International Airport in Iraq.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper defended the action as necessary to prevent Soleimani, who led the elite Quds Force, a branch of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, from plotting to target American diplomats and service members. "This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans," he said.
However, concern was immediately raised over potential fallout against Americans both abroad and at home. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that "harsh retaliation is waiting" for the U.S. And Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the killing a "heinous crime" and vowed his country would "take revenge."
In the Middle East, the State Department urged U.S. citizens to immediately leave Iraq. In New York and Los Angeles, police departments said they were on high alert. In Los Angeles, home to the largest population of Iranians outside Iran, the police department came under criticism for fear mongering.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the strike "risks provoking further dangerous escalation of violence." Both her and other senior Democratic members of Congress said they didn't receive details of the operation until afterward and were left in the dark ahead of the operation. On Twitter, "WWIII," "Iran" and "TrumpsWar" trended in the Bay Area as people attempted to come to grips with the uncertainty around what happens next.
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