O'Brien has defended the strike against Soleimani in news interviews.
January 12, 2020, 2:46 PM
4 min read
The White House national security adviser said on Sunday that he thought the Iranian regime was "having a very bad week," citing the accidental downing of a Ukrainian plane and offered the president's sympathies to the victims families.
"This is a regime that's reeling from maximum pressure, they're reeling from their incompetence in this situation and the people of Iran are just fed up with it," national security adviser Robert O'Brien said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."
Iran responded to the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani by firing multiple missiles at two Iraqi bases that house U.S. troops on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump said that Iran "appears to be standing down" in remarks Wednesday morning, and said that there were no American causalities in the attack.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced new sanctions on Iran Friday. The new round of sanctions target the country's steel and iron industry, eight Iranian security officials and three Chinese companies that have traded Iranian metals.
In recent remarks, the president said the "imminent" threat that Soleimani posed included attacks on U.S. embassies. He specified to Fox News on Friday that the plans targeted "four embassies."
National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, listens as President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the White House on the ballistic missile strike that Iran launched against Iraqi air bases housing U.S. troops in Washington, Jan. 8, 2020.
National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, listens as President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the White House on the ballistic missile strike that Iran launched against Iraqi air bases housing U.S. troops in Washington, Jan. 8, 2020.Alex Brandon/AP, FILE
O'Brien defended the strike against Soleimani in an interview with NPR on Thursday, saying that the U.S. maintains a right to self defense.
"If we didn't engage in this operation and the attacks had taken place and many Americans would have been killed, there would've been plenty of people that would have criticized us for not having disrupted the attacks," he said.
The White House briefed members of Congress on Wednesday. While some lawmakers were satisfied with the briefing, others, including Utah Sen. Mike Lee criticized the briefing.
Calling Lee a friend, O'Brien also said on NPR that several people told him the briefing was "fantastic."
"I was disappointed to hear that he wasn't happy with the briefing," he said. "But I've also heard from other senators, including Chairman (James) Risch of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- he thought it was one of the best briefings he'd ever had. So I think there's there's always mixed reviews on these things."
Several Democrats, including presidential candidate and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Delaware Sen. Chris Coons and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, said that -- in their opinion -- the briefing did not address the president's claim that Soleimani was planning to attack U.S. embassies.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
