Pompeo: A Broader Strategy of Deterrence

Pompeo: Soleimani Elimination part of a Broader Strategy of Deterrence

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that Iranian Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani was killed as part of a broader strategy of deterring challenges by US foes that also applies to China and Russia, according to Channel News Asia.

In a speech at Stanford Univesity, entitled "The Restoration Of Deterrence: The Iranian Example", Pompeo focused on what he called an administration strategy to establish "real deterrence" against Iran, following earlier Republican and Democratic policies that encouraged Tehran's "malign activity”. ArutzSheva

Pompeo: Killing of Soleimani marks beginning of new US policy to deter enemies

Assassination of Iranian general part of larger policy aimed at pushing back on Iranian aggression, reestablishing deterrence, says Pompeo. Speaking at The Hoover Institute, a conservative think-tank at Stanford, on Monday, Pompeo laid out the administration’s case for eliminating Soleimani.

“There is no terrorist, except for Osama Bin Laden, who has more American blood on his hands than Qassem Soleimani. He killed 600 of our American patriots. I knew some of these young men. He is the mastermind of the most recent attacks on our forces in Iraq,” including a deadly rocket attack by pro-Iranian militias on an Iraqi base housing US forces in December, and the subsequent assault on the US embassy in Baghdad.” arutzsheva

Unidentified aircraft strike Iranian militias in Syria

Militias along the Iraq-Syria border have been on high alert since the strike that killed IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani two weeks ago.

Dozens of militants and Syrian regime forces have defected and Iranian militias are on high alert after a series of airstrikes targeted their positions in areas near Al-Bukamal in the Deir Ezzor area of eastern Syria in recent days.

Airstrikes last Thursday targeted warehouses storing weapons belonging to Iranian militias in a village near Al-Bukamal, according to the STEP news agency. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), drones flew over the area to monitor the movements of pro-Iranian militias in the region.

On Friday, ammunition depots and vehicles belonging to Iranian militias in Al-Bukamal were targeted by airstrikes. On Saturday, unknown aircraft destroyed the headquarters of Iranian militias in the villages of Majawda and al-Abbas in the area that were holding weapons and ammunition. JPost