Iran news – live: Trump claims Qassem Soleimani was ‘plotting to kill’ Americans, and urges US citizens to leave Iraq after killing of Iran’s top general

US president and his top diplomat provide no detail for claim, while Tehran and allies vow revenge

Senator Chuck Schumer says Congress should have been informed prior to strikes on Soleimani

Donald Trump and his top diplomat, Mike Pompeo, have claimed Qassem Soleimani posed an “imminent” threat to American lives that justified the airstrike that killed him in Baghdad last night.

The US president said the Iranian general was “plotting to kill” US citizens, but neither he nor Mr Pompeo provided additional details to support the claim. Americans in Iraq have been urged to leave immediately in the wake of the killing.

Soleimani, the head of the elite Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force and Tehran’s most senior military commander in Iraq, was killed near Baghdad Airport alongside Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a high-ranking commander in Iraq’s militia.

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Key Points

• US committed to de-escalation, claims Pompeo
• Simultaneous killing of Iraqi militia leader will ‘light fuse of war’, PM says
• US embassy in Iraq urges Americans to leave country
• ‘Americans must presume they’re at war’
• Trump has ‘tossed dynamite into tinderbox’, Biden says

[3 January 2020 17:05 · Vincent Wood]

Questions are beginning to be raised on the reach of the US intelligence community into Soleimani's inner circle.

US senator Lindsey Graham has revealed in two separate interviews on US media that he was briefed on the operation to take out the Iranian military leader several days in advance - implying there may have been previous knowledge of the man's movements before the strike was carried out.

Politico’s Rym Momtaz says America’s ability to demonstrate its insight into the machinations of the Iranian state may be one of the key elements behind America's decision to strike.

[3 January 2020 17:14 · Vincent Wood]

Donald Trump has returned to tweeting about impeachment - this time repeating supportive comments from the Federalist on emails which reportedly show the order to withdraw aid from Ukraine came directly from the President.

You can read more on them below

[3 January 2020 17:25 · Vincent Wood]

Meanwhile the knock on effects of the strike are continuing to impact US industry.

According to Reuters, stocks in US cruise operators' have fallen in response to rising oil prices - a phenomenon likely to be replicated in other industries.

Stock market strength may not map directly to the strength of an economy, but it has regularly been used as a yardstick by Donald Trump who has cited success in Wall Street throughout his presidency as a measure of his administration's fiscal ability.

[3 January 2020 17:35 · Vincent Wood]

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has resumed business on the floor of the senate following the New Year break.

His comments primarily focused on the upcoming impeachment trial that will take up the chamber's business in the coming months, however he did take a moment to comment on developments in Iran.

Opening his comments, he said: "This morning Iran’s master terrorist is dead.

"The architect and chief engineer of the world’s most active state sponsor of terrorism has been removed from the battlefield at the hands of the US military.

"No man alive was more directly responsible for the deaths of more American service members than Quassem Soliemani."

[3 January 2020 17:50 · Vincent Wood]

Chuck Schumer has hit out at the president's decision to proceed with the military strike in Iraq on Iran's top general without discussion with Democratic officials.

Mr Schumer is one of eight figures made up of senior officials from both parties - known as the gang of eight - who are typically told ahead of time about planned military procedures.

Speaking of the Iranian general, he said: "No one should shed a tear over his death. The operation against Soliemani was conducted however without specific authorisation or any advance notification or consultation of Congress.

"I am a member of the gang of eight, which is typically briefed in advance of operations of this level of significance. We were not.

"The need for advanced consultation and transparency with congress was put in the constitution for a reason. Because the lack of advanced consultation and transparency with congress can lead to hasty and ill considered decisions.

"When the security of the nation is at stake decisions must not be made in a vacuum."

[3 January 2020 18:03 · Vincent Wood]

A mass funeral procession is taking place in Soleimani's home town - with mourners beating their chests and waving flags to mark his passing.

Reza H. Akbari of the Insitute of War and Peace Reporting says alongside the scale of the demonstration of mourning, the procession features similar traits to religious ceremonies marking the martyrdom of the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad - Husayn ibn Ali.

[3 January 2020 18:11 · Vincent Wood]

Jeremy Corbyn has asked Prime Minister Boris Johnson for an urgent Privy Council briefing "to demand answers to a series of questions following the US assassination of Qassem Suleimani".

The Labour leader will seek to press Mr Johnson on his knowledge of the operation before the drone strike as well as "whether the UK Government has been in touch with the UN to discuss the consequences for peace and security; the measures taken to ensure the safety of UK nationals; and what assessment has been made of the potential increase in the risk of terrorist attack in the UK."

He will also call for details on safety precautions made for Britons in the region, and the assessment on the potential increased risk of a terror attack on the UK as a result of the military action.

[3 January 2020 18:34 · Vincent Wood]

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, in a telephone call, thanked the crown prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad Bin Salman for his nation’s “steadfast support” and for “recognizing aggressive threats posed by Iran’s quds” force – the State Department has said.

This follows on from phone calls with others including the UK's Dominic Raab and Germany's Heiko Maas.

However questions will likely be raised on why the US' traditional allies were told after the fact. As noted by Negar Mortazavi below, Mr Pompeo is understood to have called officials from Saudia Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Israel to discuss Iran before the strike took place.

[3 January 2020 19:03 · Vincent Wood]

Here's more from Andrew Feinberg on Trump's decision not to brief key democrats in Congress on the strike.

The only member of Congress who appeared to have had advance knowledge of the attack was Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, who on Friday told Fox News that he was briefed on the operation during a visit with Mr Trump at his company's Florida golf club.

[3 January 2020 19:20 · Vincent Wood]

Iran's foreign minister Javad Zarif has reportedly announced on Iranian TV that the nation will launch various legal measures against the US at an international level to hold Washington to account over the killing of Soleimani.