Article snippet: MORE tweeted an image of an American flag late Thursday amid reports that an airstrike had killed a top Iranian general in Iraq. Trump’s tweet came around 9:30 p.m. Thursday night and was not accompanied by any text. The president sent the message after reports from Iraqi state television said that Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, had been killed in an air strike at Baghdad’s international airport. The Pentagon later said that Trump directed the strike against Soleimani, calling it a “decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad.” “At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,” the Pentagon said. “General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region,” the statement continued. “This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans.” The White House has not said anything about the airstrike beyond reiterating the Pentagon’s statement, and it appeared unlikely that Trump, who is at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., would publicly address the matter on Thursday. Several Republican lawmakers also cryptically praised the U.S. military on Twitter before the Pentagon confirmed that the U.S. had carried out the strike a... Link to the full article to read more