Secretary of Defense Warns Iran on CNN: We Are Not Looking to Start War, But We Are Prepared to ‘Finish One’

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper delivered an ominous-sounding warning to Iran when he said that the United States is “not looking to start a war with Iran. but we are prepared to finish one.”

Secretary Esper was interviewed on CNN International Tuesday afternoon by anchor Christiane Amanpour, who asked about the intelligence that supported President Donald Trump’s decision to order the killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in an airstrike.

Amanpour told Esper that people who have seen the intel have told reports that the “evidence may be razor thin, and the chatter was nothing out of the ordinary from what you already know about Soleimani and his plans and activities,” and asked “Can you look the American people and the world down the barrel of this camera, straight in the eye, and say that there was a ticking time bomb evidence?”

Esper launched into his own series of messages, first saying “To the American people, I want to assure them that they have the best military in the world, and the young men and women who wear our uniform of any service are extremely capable and professional and prepared to defend our homeland, our people, and our interests in the region and more broadly.”

“Secondly I’d like to say to our servicemembers and our diplomats in the region that we have your back, we thoroughly support what you are doing, we are proud of you, and that we are taking every necessary step to ensure force protection as I know you ready yourself for what may be ahead,” Esper continued.

“Thirdly to our partners and allies, and directly to the Iranian regime, I’d like to say we are not looking to start a war with Iran, but we are prepared to finish one,” Esper said, then added that “what we would like to see is the situation de-escalated, and for Tehran to sit down with us and begin a discussion about a better way ahead.”

Esper then answered Amanpour’s question by saying “I can assure you that it’s more than razor thin and it’s, it is persuasive,” adding that Soleimani was caught red-handed on the ground in Baghdad, one terrorist leader of a terrorist organization meeting with another terrorist leader to synchronize and plan additional attacks on American forces, diplomats, or facilities.”

Watch the clip above via CNN International.