US President Donald Trump on Saturday said the execution of Iran's elite IRGC Qassem Soleim by US military was aimed 'to stop a war, not to start a war.'
"We took action last night to stop a war, not to start a war. We do not seek regime change, however, the Iran regime's aggression in the region including use of proxy fighters to destabilise its neighbours must end now," Trump said in a statement.
He also said that Qassem was plotting attacks on US diplomats and military personnel before he was killed.
This statement comes at a backdrop of Washington's strike carried out near Baghdad's international airport killing Soleim, a US-designated terrorist, along with six others on the direction of President Donald Trump.
Talking about America's policy in the region, he said, "To terrorists who harm or intend to harm any American, we will find you; we will eliminate you. We will always protect our diplomats, service members, all Americans, and our allies."
Meanwhile, Iran on Friday vowed to take a "vigorous revenge" over the killing of General Qassem Soleim, the head of Iran's elite IRGC.
The US had accused Soleim of orchestrating several attacks on coalition bases in Iraq including the December 27 attack in which American and Iraqi personnel were killed.
( With inputs from ANI )