Pompeo: Iran general planned attack but “we don’t know” specifics

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he didn’t know of any specific targets for planned attacks that justified President Trump’s decision to kill Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani. “There is no doubt that there were a series of imminent attacks that were being plotted by Qassem Soleimani,” Pompeo said on Fox News that aired Thursday night. “We don’t know precisely when, and we don’t know precisely where, but it was real.”

Mr. Trump addressed the drone strike on Iran’s top general during a rally with supporters in Toledo, Ohio. “Soleimani was actively planning new attacks, and he was looking very seriously at our embassies and not just the embassy in Baghdad, but we stopped him, and we stopped him quickly, and we stopped him cold,” the president said.

Mr. Trump did not offer any evidence to support his claim. Sources told CBS News that members of Congress were not told during a briefing by administration officials earlier this week about any imminent threats to U.S. embassies, CBS News chief congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes reports.