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Local political expert talks killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani

"I don't think there is any question Iran will retaliate, it's where and when." -- UMSL Assistant Professor of Political Science Anita Manion

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ST. LOUIS — On Friday the U.S. military killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, via an airstrike near the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq.

The airstrike came at the direction of President Donald Trump.

RELATED: US airstrike kills powerful Iranian general

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has said Iran will "take revenge for this heinous crime."

5 On Your Side's Brandon Merano, who just returned from Afghanistan, sat down with UMSL Assistant Professor of Political Science Anita Manion to discuss Soleimani's killing.

President Trump: Killing of Iranian general was meant 'to stop a war'

President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States killed an Iranian general in an airstrike "to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war." The president said he ordered the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani because he was planning "imminent and sinister attacks."

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