President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon that the United States would “quickly” strike back in response to any Iranian aggression in the wake of the assassination of an Iranian military leader — and warned that a U.S. response could be “in a disproportionate manner.”
“These Media Posts will serve as notification to the United States Congress that should Iran strike any U.S. person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back, & perhaps in a disproportionate manner. Such legal notice is not required, but is given nevertheless!” Trump tweeted.
Trump’s rhetoric toward Iran has remained aggressive since he ordered a missile strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani late last week. Trump has tweeted numerous times over the weekend that the U.S. would be quick to respond to any Iranian attacks.
Following Soleimani’s death on Friday, Iran vowed “harsh retaliation.” Iran also said Sunday that it would no longer abide by a 2015 agreement with the U.S. in which the country agreed to curb its development of nuclear weapons.
Trump reportedly did not notify Congress of the strike that killed Soleimani until Saturday afternoon.
Trump ordered the airstrike that killed Soleimani — the commander of Iran’s Qud forces (a designated terrorist organization in the U.S.) and a revered figure among Shiites in Iran — on Friday in response to days of pro-Iranian protests outside of the U.S. embassy in Iraq. Those protests came in response to a series of U.S. airstrikes that killed 25 Iranians.
