Pompeo hits ‘spurious’ UN report that claims Soleimani's killing was unlawful

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Mike Pompeo reacts to UN report that claims Soleimani’s killing was illegal

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is hitting back at claims by a UN report that says the killing of top Iranian General Qaseem Soleimani was unlawful.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday pushed back against a U.N. report that claimed the U.S. strike that killed Islamic Republic Guard Corps Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani breached international law — with Pompeo describing the conclusions as “spurious.”

The report was submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council by Agnes Callamard, the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, and concluded that claims by the U.S. about the justification for the strike that killed the Iranian general were exaggerated and lacked evidence.

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Soleimani, the mastermind of Tehran’s military and terror strategies abroad, was taken out in January by the U.S., which described his death as a defensive measure to prevent an “imminent attack” on U.S. interests after an attack on the embassy in Baghdad days earlier.

"No evidence has been provided that Gen. Soleimani specifically was planning an imminent attack against U.S. interests, particularly in Iraq, for which immediate action was necessary and would have been justified," Callamard said.

The report also accused the U.S. of “violating the territorial integrity of Iraq” and violated the U.N. Charter which "prohibits the threat or use of force and calls on all members to respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of other states.”

"Major General Soleimani was in charge of Iran military strategy, and actions, in Syria and Iraq," the report claims. "But absent an actual imminent threat to life, the course of action taken by the U.S. was unlawful."

Pompeo on Thursday rejected those conclusions.

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“Ms. Callamard’s conclusions are spurious,” Pompeo said in a statement. “The strike that killed General Soleimani was in response to an escalating series of armed attacks in preceding months by the Islamic Republic of Iran and militias it supports on U.S. forces and interests in the Middle East region.”

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“It was conducted to deter Iran from launching or supporting further attacks against the United States or U.S. interests, and to degrade the capabilities of the Quds Force,” he said.

He argued that the U.S. has been “transparent” regarding the strike, and noted that the U.S. had informed the U.N. Security Council on Jan. 8 that the strike was undertaken “in the exercise of the United States’ inherent right of self-defense.

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“As the President said on January 2, 'We will always protect our diplomats, service members, and all Americans,’” Pompeo said.

The U.S. has been a frequent critic of the Human Rights Council, particularly over its anti-U.S. and anti-Israel bias, and its membership — which frequently includes a number of countries with poor human rights records. The U.S. left the body in 2018.

Fox News' Vandana Rambaran contributed to this report.