Killing Terrorists? Hmmm. Biden State Dept Tongue-Tied About Support for Soleimani Assassination
Three years after his death, anti-regime protesters tear pictures of notorious terrorist
Qasem Soleimani, head of Iran’s Quds Force / Twitter screenshot Adam Kredo • January 9, 2023 3:33 pm
Three years after the elimination of one of the world’s most notorious terrorists, President Joe Biden’s State Department is tongue-tied when it comes to articulating its support for President Donald Trump’s decision to take out Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
Amid protests across Iran that have seen anti-regime demonstrators tear apart pictures of Soleimani, the State Department declined to comment on those acts of rebellion or say whether it stands by the U.S. military operation that killed Soleimani.
“We’re not going to rehash history,” a State Department spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon in response to questions about whether it believes the January 2020 drone strike on Soleimani made America safer. When asked if it has comment on videos showing Iranian protesters burning pictures of Soleimani, the spokesman said, “We cannot comment on every act of protest taking place inside Iran.”
The State Department’s unwillingness to comment on the Soleimani operation drew criticism from Iranian-American activist groups and congressional foreign policy leaders who have worked to isolate the hardline regime. As the protests stretch into their fourth month, the Biden administration has negotiations over a revamped version of the 2015 nuclear accord on life support. U.S. Iran envoy Robert Malley—who is under pressure to resign his post—said late last year that he is “keeping the door open for a return to diplomacy,” even as the Iranian regime murders and imprisons protesters.
Bryan Leib, executive director of Iranian Americans for Liberty, an advocacy group working to support democracy in Iran, said the Biden administration should embrace the Soleimani assassination—just as Iranian dissidents are risking their lives to do so across the Islamic Republic.
“The Biden State Department continues to project weaknesses on the world stage regarding the Islamic Republic while the entire department echoes the same talking points from the feckless Robert Malley,” Leib told the Free Beacon. “When asked a simple question about Soleimani, they can’t muster up the courage to applaud the former administration for their actions to eliminate Soleimani and to weaken Tehran through their maximum pressure [and] maximum sanctions campaign.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and author of a 2020 resolution honoring the American service
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