On behalf of the entire department our thoughts are with the family and friends of army special lift Henry Mayfield junior. He was in support of an operation working to protect long side our kenyan partners. And to our east african partners to help them in the fight. Moving to iran, at this time, our Top Priorities remain first the safety and security of american and our readiness to respond to iranian aggression. Since the strike, i have spoken to the commanders on the ground to protect their people and prepare for any contingencies. As a result, we increased our force protection postures across the region and will recontinue to bolster our forces as necessary to protect our people nd interests and facilities. And have called on them to stand with us in the defense of Coalition Forces in iraq. Working through nato and with our partners on the ground we continue to bolster iraqi institutions. As we defend our people, let me rite the United States is seeking a war but we are prepared to finish one and seeking a diplomatic solution descalt quire iran and come to the table. And it will require to stop their maligned activities throughout the region. And we are just as prepared to deliver a response to defend our interests. Timely, the American People should know their safety is in the hands of the strongest capability in the world. We are standing with them and will continue to support them as they meet and overcome threats from iran and its proxy militias and we remain committed to our partners, detering their bad behavior and supporting iraq has it becomes a strong and independent nation. And the architects of terror will not tolerate attacks and will exercise our right to selfdefense should that become necessary once again. With that, i will open it up to questions. I wanted to clarify one thing that you said earlier that the u. S. Continues to engage isis in syria. [indiscernible] there was a televised appearance earlier today in which he laid out what he said was a signed letter that the iraqis got, those were his words and he suggested that another letter should be sent. What have you done and are you continuing to clear up what you said yesterday was a mistake . We are not leaving iraq and a draft unsigned letter does not constitute a policy change and no signed letter to the best of my knowledge. There may be people trying to create confusion. What i said a few times. Our policy has not changed. We are in iraq and there to support iraqi forces and Iraqi Government to become a strong, independent and prosperous country. Isis in syria. To engage withit our partners. What if the iraqis dont want you to stay and the Prime Minister wants you to go and nato allies are pulling out. Well take those one step at a time. There is a few procedural hurdles that the Iraqi Government. We remain with them in Constant Contact and many iraqis recognize the partnership with them. Whether its training and advising their military to become more effective on the field or battle or working with them. I think the vote the other day shows the support of most iraqis for our presence in the country. Them voted at the threat of their own lives by shiia militia groups. Even in the last few days we still see iraqis on the streets protesting their government due to corruption and the blind influence of iran. Those sentiments, those feelings, have not gone away. I think at the end of the day working with the iraqi people youll find our presence is important for both their country and ours. You also asked about partners. I have talked to many of our partners in iraq who are part of the deisis coalition. Many europeans. They are fully supportive of us. They are fully with us. I have been told by them that some of the movements they are taking are simply with regard to force protection. We are doing some of that as well. It does not signal any withdrawal from iraq where the ission writ large. Reporter the range of option that is were under consideration, do you have any sense how many other options are under consideration . Did you support any other ones . Was one option to not take this strike inside iraq, which would have secretary esper im not going to speak to any options or anything we speak to the president. Thats how i approach things. Will i tell you that options we presented were all options that we supported and believe we could deliver on and would be effective. With any time we deliver an option, we always list pros and cons. Nd pluses and minuses. Thats how we approach t thats my duty and obligation to the commander in chief. Reporter were there multiple option you would have considered . Secretary esper im not sure i understand the question. Reporter other option that is you supported in addition to this one . Secretary esper there are always a wide range of options. Our duty is to narrow them down to ones consistent with the president s guidance or expectation or can meet the political end state we are trying to achieve. We had a full panoply of options available. Reporter the allies moving their troops, does it mean you couldnt guarantee their security, especially with their protection . Or did you ask them to move . Secretary esper i dont think o. I know in one case in particular it was a matter of us being able to move in additional u. S. Forces into a confined space that was being occupied by trainers on the ground. It was a logistical issue. Reporter can you clarify the attack soleimani was planning, was that days or weeks away . Secretary esper days for sure. Reporter if u. S. Is legally obliged to withdrawal from iraq if told by the Iraqi Government to go. Secretary esper we are not there yet. None of that has happened to the best of my knowledge. As those events unfold well address them. Well have all the right legal experts to advise us on hat. Reporter mr. Secretary, you said the u. S. Is not seeking war with iran. I think the question most people want an answer to is how close are we to war with iran . And specifically how would you characterize Iranian Military movements over the past several days . Secretary esper it is true we are not seeking war with iran. I think the what happens next depends on them. I think we should expect that they will retaliate in some way, shape, or form. Either through their proxies, as they have been doing now for how many years, or by and or with by their own hand. So we take this one step at a time. We are prepared for any contingency. And then we will respond appropriately to whatever they do. Reporter how would you characterize their military movements so far . Secretary esper we watch them very closely. We see their movements. I dont want to get more into that because it starts getting into intelligence issues. Ill just leave it at that. Reporter mr. Secretary, you talked about being ready for potential conflict here in case iran retaliates. If they dont retaliate against american targets or interests in the middle east, but instead target our partners in the region, is that enough to warrant a u. S. Response . Secretary esper im not going to comment hypothesize or comment, speculate. We are standing there to defend not only our interests but those of our allies and partners. I want to reassure them we are there with them as well. Reporter two points to follow up on if i may. You have talked about iran needs to deescalate. My first question is does the u. S. Have any obligation to deescalate, or is that fully irans court . My second question, you have said several times in the past couple dice that you will follow International Law on potential war crimes. I think let me set that aside. I think everyone would expect you would do exactly that. My question is not hypothetical. The president is out there with his position. If you get an order, would you resign from Office Rather than violate the law . Secretary esper im not going to get into some hypothetical you are portraying. Im fully confident the president is the commander in chief will not give us an illegal order. As i said, the United States military will, as it always has, obey the laws of armed conflict. Reporter deescalation, does the u. S. Have responsibility or obligation to also deescalate . Or is that in your view solely in irans court. Secretary esper we are not the one that is have escalated this over the past arguably 40 years and the past several months. Its been iran through its proxies. It has consistently escalated this in terms of the size, scale, scope of their attacks. We reached a point where we had to act in selfdefense. We had to take appropriate action. At this point as i said a few times now, the ball is in their court. What they do next will determine what happens in the subsequent moves. Reporter mr. Secretary, i would like to ask you before the attack against soleimani, had you been in consultations with your partners in the region . I mean the g. G. C. Council, or israel, if you have informed them that operation is going to take place . Secretary esper im not going to get into the details of our consultations on any matter with other countries. Obviously we have been talking about our force posture in iraq for some time. Our concerns about iranian actions or the actions they are inspiring, resourcing or directing through its militias. Im not going to get into details. Reporter you raised questions about the kind of people who did vote and didnt vote yesterday and today. Do you believe that vote was egitimate . That resolution calling on u. S. Forces to leave was legitimate . And separately, on the issue of you said you expect iran to retaliate. Are there any offramps to this crisis . Or do you expect we are heading towards this military confrontation . Secretary esper on the first question i wont characterize it any differently than what many other people have characterized it. Many experts. That is its nonbinding. We know there are mechanisms by which they would have to act. Im not an expert on the Iraqi Government i characterize it the way i did. Nonbinding. With regard to the offramps, there is a gig big one sitting in front of tehran right now, that is to deescalate. To message us that they want to sit down and talk without precondition, by the way, to the United States, about a better way forward. A way forward which would constitute a new mode of behavior by iran where they behave more like a normal country and one could presume free them up from economic sanctions and allow the iranian people to pursue the life they want to live. That is one with freedom and prosperity and all those things ost human beings want. Eporter after pressure from iran, has the Iraqi Government prevented the u. S. Military from using certain capabilities within the country hampering operations in any way . Secretary esper they have taken some actions in the past that have hampered some of our operations with regard to airspace and things like that. Nothing we werent able to work through with them. Reporter is that happening currently . Ecretary esper there is nothing they are doing right now hampering operations. To the best of my knowledge. Reporter earlier question, what would just to press you more on this. What would constitute a binding order from the Iraqi Government . Because there seems to be a disconnect from what the Prime Minister is telling the ambassador and other heads of tate of europe about implementing this resolution from the iraqi parliament, and what the pentagon says has been communicated or hasnt been communicated. Secretary esper great question for the iraqi Prime Minister. Reporter does that mean you are not taking his communication about the implementation of that parliamentary resolution on its face in terms of what hes aying . Secretary esper i havent eceived any communication from him or the Iraqi Government about the legislation or about an order or request to withdraw u. S. Forces. Reporter mr. Secretary, can you please explain to us how the killing of one of irans top generals would contribute to the case of the escalation . You are asking iran to deescalate now. Would the u. S. Respond in such a manner if one of your top generals was killed in a third country . Secretary esper lets look at history. Soleimani was a terrorist eader. Hes been conducting terrorist activities against us and Coalition Partners for 20 years. He has the blood of hundreds of american soldiers on his hands and wounded thousands more. We can talk about all the mayhem hes caused against the syrian people, the people of lebanon, even his own people in iran. He is responsible for the killing of iranian people. This sense that somehow taking somebody who by the way over the last few months, had planned, orchestrated, and or resourced attacks against the United States that resulted in the killing of american and the siege of our embassy in baghdad, and was in baghdad to coordinate additional attacks to somehow suggest that he wasnt a legitimate target i think is fanciful. He was clearly on the battlefield. He was conducting, preparing, planning military operations. He was a legitimate target. And his time was due. Reporter can you give us a preview what youll Tell Congress tomorrow in terms of how much detail will you be given, willing to give members that you havent thus far told the public in terms of the size, scope, and eminence. You are aware how skeptical people are of the imminent threat issue. You were there in 2003. So temper expectations. What are you prepared secretary esper much of my messaging to congress will be same as what im delivering to you here in terms of my views on the policy. The broader regional situation. The history. Obviously with members of congress we can go into a classified we will be in a classified setting and be able to share more. But the exquisite intelligence that we are talking about that led to the decision to that was, i should say, one of the factors that led to the decision to strike at soleimani is only shared with handful of members. Socalled gang of eight. So they are getting that briefing this afternoon. And they will have access to that. Most members will not have access to that. Reporter you talked about increasing force posture in the region. About what force protection levels . Have you gone up to the c or delta, highest level . Secretary esper the commanders in the region, i should say globally, are taking all appropriate force Protection Measures relevant to their situation, the threat that they are receiving, the readiness of their troops, etc. Im confident that our commanders will do the right thing on the ground. Thank youall very much. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Isit ncicap. Org] nato secretary general spoke to reporters briefly in brussels on the us air strike that killed soleimani. Heres a look. Should iran retaliate in a way that makes the United States trigger the fight . What would make that response . I think the important thing is to try to deescalate and avoid further increased tensions in the region. And i think that if if i were to speculate how we react will not help to deescalate but do the opposite. Call on a responsible behavior. E believe in the importance of deescalation and restraint and from all allies in the meeting day and i will not speculate because it will be the opposite because it will only increase ensions. Of the is the criticism u. S. By european allies during the meeting relating to the assassination of general soleimani and what is your view of the killing of general soleimani . The meeting we had today and e meeting that we saw strong unity of all allies of standing together against the fight of International Terrorism, on the importance of the Nato Training Mission in iraq, on the importance of training activities to defeat isis and all nato allies are part of the Global Coalition and nato contributes to it in different ways including our troops in iraq. Allies are to concerned about irans activities in the region and nato allies have condemned many times attacks on Coalition Forces by iran and supported groups. And that criticism was reit rated in the meeting today. [indiscernible] this is a u. S. Decision. It is not a decision taken by neither the Global Coalition nor nato but all allies are concerned about irans de stabilizing activities in the region. Iran supports different terrorist groups and concerned with the recent attacks we have seen against civilian infrastructure in saudi arabia or against coalition bases in iraq, bases which are important for our efforts to fighting International Terrorism in iraq and syria. Time for one more. Secretary, said, mr. That the u. S. Briefed on the air strike against soleimani. U. S. Justified this killing saying that he developed to take america out. And did the u. S. Show some evidence on that . Rationale has the against general soleimani and we have several briefers from the United States, from state and om pentagon and they briefed and explained to their allies why took these actions against general soleimani. I will look forward going into the briefing and leave it to the United States but we value and appreciate the briefings provided by the United States. This provides, shows that nato is where european allies, and north American Allies come together and address security concerns. Campaign 2020, watch our continuing coverage of the president ial candidates and make up their own mind as the voting begins next month. Watch our live coverage. On month february 3, cspans 2020. Your unfiltered view of politics. In new york city stood, 2020, joe biden spoke about foreign policy, the former Vice President discussed the air strike that killed general soleimani and the importance of rejoining the Iranian Nuclear deal. Please welcome Vice President joe biden. [applause] vicepresident biden good afternoon, folks. Thank you for being here. Six months ago here in new york city, i made the case that donald trump was dangerously incompetent and incapable of world leadership and in the past few dayin