Friday's deadly attack comes amid tensions between Washington and Tehran after a New Year's Eve attack by Iranian-backed militias on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The strikes were retaliation for the killing of an American contractor and the wounding of Iraqi service members during a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base. Other congressional leaders applauded Friday's attack, citing Soleimani's history of supporting groups that killed American service members. In April 2019, the State Department said Iran was responsible for the deaths of 608 American troops during the Iraq War. Soleimani was the head of those Iranian and Iranian-backed forces carrying out operations killing American troops, the agency said.

Source: Fox News January 03, 2020 03:22 UTC