U.S. President Donald Trump defended the deadly U.S. attack on Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani by saying, "we saved a lot of lives by terminating his life... They were planning something."
"We saved a lot of lives" by killing Soleimani -Trump
Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office as he met Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, called Soleimani a 'terrorist.'
"There was an attack recently that he was in charge of where we had people horribly wounded - one dead.
In fact the number now as of this morning is two dead," said Trump.
"We had tremendous information - we had been following him for a long time," added Trump.
Soleimani, who commanded the elite Quds Force, was responsible for building up Tehran's network of proxy armies across the Middle East.
He was a pivotal figure in orchestrating Iran's long-standing campaign to drive U.S. forces out of Iraq.
A senior Iranian official said Tehran was considering several scenarios to avenge his death.
Other senior figures have said the Islamic Republic would match the scale of the killing when it responds, but that it would choose the time and place.
U.S. officials have said Soleimani was killed because of solid intelligence indicating forces under his command planned further attacks on U.S. targets in the region, though they have provided no evidence.