As the news of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani broke on Friday morning, the White House said that the US airstrike that killed the top commander was conducted on the orders of US President Donald Trump. Now, a senior US lawmaker has said the attack was carried out without informing the Congress.

US lawmakers were not told in advance of the attack ordered by President Donald Trump that killed the Iranian military commander, a senior House Democrat said.

The airstrike conducted at the Baghdad airport against Iran's Qassem Soleimani "went forward with no notification or consultation with Congress," House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Eliot Engel said in a statement.

However, Engel added, "Tonight's action represents a massive escalation in our conflict with Iran with unpredictable consequences."

"Finally, this strike went forward with no notification or consultation with Congress. To push ahead with an action of this gravity without involving Congress raises serious legal problems and is an affront to Congress's powers as a coequal branch of government," the senior lawmaker said.

The White House on Friday said that the killing was carried out on the orders of Donald Trump. "At the direction of the President, the US military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization," said a White House statement.

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