Pentagon officials say threats from Iranian military leader killed by Trump 'did not appear to be imminent': NYT

Some officials at the Department of Defense are throwing cold water on President Donald Trump and his administration's claims that the late Iranian military leader Qassim Suleimani posed an imminent threat to American citizens.

The New York Times reports that these officials say they are unaware of any plots being hatched by Suleimani that were particularly noteworthy at the time of his death.

"Trump administration officials have provided no specific details of what they said were imminent threats, and some Defense Department officials said they knew of only generalized threats that did not appear to be imminent," the Times reports.

This contrasts with what Trump wrote on his Twitter account on Friday to justify the strike against Suleimani.

"General Qassem Suleimani has killed or badly wounded thousands of Americans over an extended period of time, and was plotting to kill many more... but got caught!" he wrote.

Suleimani was killed on Thursday night via a drone strike authorized by the president. Iran has vowed to take revenge against the United States for the killing, which has elevated fears of a potential war between the two countries.