On the matter of the killing in January of a top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, Pompeo said the assassination made U.S. personnel abroad safer.

“Removing him from the battlefield was a de-escalatory measure.

“The killing made Iran take U.S. deterrence more seriously.

“They recognised the seriousness with which America acted,’’ Pompeo said.

He called Soleimani a strategic target, who was planning additional attacks on U.S. citizens.

Lawmakers from the Democratic Party pushed back against Pompeo’s statement, saying that the administration has not showed that Soleimani posed an imminent threat, which had been the justification for the strike.

The U.S. will sustain its pressure campaign on Iran, Pompeo told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the 2015 multi-nation nuclear deal with Iran, despite no sign at the time that Tehran was in violation.

Washington has been imposing strict sanctions on that country.

The nuclear deal has since been unravelling.