Publications
Partners
Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has condemned the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, as an “act of international terrorism”.
“The US bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism,” Zairf said in a statement on Friday, warning that the move would strengthen resistance against the United States and Israel in the region and the world, Iranian state television reported.
“The brutality and stupidity of American terrorist forces in assassinating Commander Soleimani ... will undoubtedly make the tree of resistance in the region and the world more prosperous,” said Zarif.
The Pentagon said US President Donald Trump ordered Soleimani’s “killing” after a pro-Iran mob this week laid siege to the US embassy.
Following Soleimani’s death, Trump tweeted an image of the US flag without any further explanation.
Meanwhile, the US embassy in Baghdad urged American citizens to depart Iraq “immediately”.
Soleimani, considered the architect of Iran’s regional security apparatus, was killed along with at least six others following a US air strike at Baghdad’s international airport. Iraqi armed group commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an adviser to Soleimani, was also killed in the attack.
Following the announcement, Iranian state television presenters wore black and broadcast footage of Soleimani peering through binoculars across a desert and greeting a soldier, and of Muhandis speaking to followers.
The high-profile killings come amid a sharp escalation in Iran-US tensions.
On Tuesday, Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq and their supporters held a violent protest at the US embassy in Baghdad, setting fires and attempting to storm the heavily fortified compound.
The protest came after the US attacked sites in Iraq and Syria belonging to Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Iraqi militia founded by Muhandis and which falls under the Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces). At least 25 Kataib Hezbollah fighters were killed in the attack.
Muhandis was the Hashd’s deputy chief but widely recognised as the real shot-caller within the group, while Soleimani headed the Quds Force and also served as Iran’s pointman on Iraq, visiting the country in times of turmoil.
Both were sanctioned by the United States.
‘Harsh retaliation’
Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei warned that “a harsh retaliation is waiting” and also announced a three-day mourning across Iran.
He said the killing of Soleimani, whom he considered a close friend and confidant, would double the motivation of the resistance against the US and Israel.
“All enemies should know that the jihad of resistance will continue with a doubled motivation, and a definite victory awaits the fighters in the holy war,” Khamenei said in a statement carried by state television.
Mohsen Rezaei, the former commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, also warned the US of “revenge”.
“He [Soleimani] joined his martyred brothers, but we will take vigorous revenge on America,” Rezaei, who is now the secretary of a powerful state body, said in a post on Twitter.
The Pentagon said Soleimani had been “actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region”.
It said it took “decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani”, but did not specify how.
Major military response
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari said that a strong Iranian response was expected.
“There’s a clear indication that there will be a military response at some point.
“It is seen as a hostile act on an Iranian general who was not there in an official military capacity. Qassem Soleimani was in Iraq on an advisory role.
“The supreme leader has said that this glorious, grandiose, and great fighter has now been martyred. He said he was one of the great followers of the late Ayotollah Khomeini, the founder of the Revolutionary Guard.
“His death by the US is being seen as an act of war and it will certainly have a very strong response,” Jabari said.
Ordered killing
The Pentagon said Trump had ordered Soleimani’s “killing” after pro-Iran protesters this week stormed the US embassy in Baghdad.
A senior House Democrat said late Thursday that US legislators were not told in advance of the attack ordered by Trump.
The strike conducted in Iraq against Soleimani “went forward with no notification or consultation with Congress”, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairperson Eliot Engel said in a statement.
Soleimani was “the mastermind of immense violence” and has “the blood of Americans on his hands”, the Democratic lawmaker said.
But “to push ahead with an action of this gravity without involving Congress raises serious legal problems and is an affront to Congress’ powers as a coequal branch of government,” Engel added.
Oil prices soar
Ties between the US and Iran have deteriorated since Washington pulled out of the landmark nuclear deal with Tehran in 2018.
It then reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran, aiming to choke off its oil exports.
Oil prices soared following Friday’s attack, with Brent surging 4.4% to $69.16 and WTI jumping 4.3% to 63.84.
But the attack threatens to destabilise Iraq, which has close political and military ties with both Tehran and Washington.
The United States led the 2003 invasion against then-dictator Saddam Hussein and has worked closely with Iraqi officials since.
But its influence has waned compared with that of Tehran, which has carefully crafted personal ties with Iraqi politicians and armed factions, even during Saddam’s reign.
Iraqi officials have warned in recent months that their country could be used as an arena for score-settling between Iran and the US.
Meanwhile, social media has been abuzz with World War 3 trends, with many users citing this as the start of another global war.
- Al Jazeera and AFP
