Salt Lake Tribune · Jan 6, 2020
What is Trump’s Iran strategy? Few seem to know.
(Alex Brandon | AP ) Supporters of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, or the MEK, an Iranian exile group, hold signs and flags during a show of support for a U.S. airstrike in Iraq that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, in Lafayette Park across from the White House, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Washington. When the United States announced Friday that it had killed Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, something about its explanation left many analysts puzzled.
The strike was intended to deter further Iranian attacks, administration officials said. But it was also expected to provoke severe enough attacks by Iran that the Pentagon was deploying an additional several thousand troops to the region.