Following the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, Iran was "on its back foot," according to incoming US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who argued the strike by the then-president Donald Trump demonstrated how decisive action can deter Iran.

“Sometimes you've got to punch the bully in the mouth and then take a step back and watch everything settle down,” Waltz said in an interview with Sebastian Gorka on America First podcast.

“Their economy was tanking, but they were still mucking around,” Waltz said, adding, “When the President took action, he did it to great effect with no collateral damage.”

Soleimani was the commander of the Revolutionary Guards extraterritorial Quds Force and was killed in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport in January 2020, a move Trump openly acknowledged ordering.