Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a senior Iranian commander and one of the most powerful figures in the Middle East, was killed in an airstrike on the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq at the direction of President Donald Trump , the Pentagon confirmed Thursday. The assassination marks a monumental escalation toward Iran.

This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans, the Pentagon said in a statement. The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that the strike was aimed at thwarting an imminent attack that Soleimani was planning in the region.

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a pro-Iranian militia leader who was a senior figure in Iraqs government-linked Popular Mobilization Forces, was also killed in the Iraq attack, according to reports from The Associated Press and Reuters .

The incident will have mammoth implications for the Middle East because Soleimani was the central figure in Irans significant network of influence across the region. Its likely to seriously affect the U.S. position there with Tehrans allies already blaming Washington for the death, a greater escalation between U.S. and Iranian forces and their partners appears inevitable. Thousands of U.S. forces are currently within rocket range of Irans military and in close proximity to Iran-backed fighters, chiefly in Iraq and Syria, as part of deployments in the ongoing fight against the self-described Islamic State (ISIS).

The U.S. launched strikes against targets linked to Iran on Friday, officials told Reuters. The Trump administration reportedly began discussing the strike last week after an American contractor died in an attack that U.S. officials blamed on the Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah, according to The Washington Post .

At least seven people, including Soleimani and Muhandis, died in the flare-up, The New York Times reported .