COAS stresses maximum restraint to de-escalate situation in Middle East: ISPR

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a telephonic call to Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday. In a tweet, DG ISPR Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said that regional situation, including possible implications of recent escalation in Middle East, was discussed. “The COAS emphasized need for maximum restraint and constructive engagement by all concerned to de-escalate the situation in broader interest of peace and stability. He also reiterated the need for maintaining focus on success of Afghan peace process,” he said. https://twitter.com/OfficialDGISPR/status/1213140192388886528?s=20 In a tweet, Mike Pompeo said: “I spoke with Pakistan's Chief of Staff General Bajwa today about US defensive action to kill Qassem Soleimani. The Iran regime’s actions in the region are destabilizing and our resolve in protecting American interests, personnel, facilities, and partners will not waver.” https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1213122193204432896?s=20 Meanwhile, Mike Pompeo also spoke with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and told him that Trump's decision to kill Qassem Soleimani is to protect American lives at stake. “The Iranian regime’s actions are a source of instability throughout the region. The US will protect its people and its interests.” Earlier in interviews on Fox News and CNN, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that a US air strike in Baghdad that killed a top Iranian commander aimed to disrupt an “imminent attack” that would have endangered Americans in the Middle East. He declined to discuss many details of the alleged threat but said it was ‘an intelligence-based assessment’ that drove the US decision to target Qassem Soleimani. “He was actively plotting in the region to take actions - a big action as he described it — that would have put dozens if not hundreds of American lives at risk. We know it was imminent,” Pompeo told CNN, echoing an earlier Pentagon statement on Thursday. “These were threats that were located in the region,” Pompeo added. “Last night was the time that we needed to strike to make sure that this imminent attack ... was disrupted.” “What was sitting before us was his travels throughout the region, his efforts to make a significant strike against Americans,” Pompeo said separately on Fox News. “There would have been many Muslims killed as well, Iraqis and people in other countries.”