Alwaght- The perpetrators behind the assassination of top Iranian anti-terror commander, Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, will not be safe, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) reiterated on Tuesday.
Brigadier General Esmail Qa'ani made the warning at a ceremony in the Iranian capital of Tehran that was held in commemoration of the second martyrdom anniversary of General Soleimani in a US drone strike in Iraq in 2020.
“The commemoration of Martyr Soleimani means the commemoration of all the martyrs of the resistance [movement] and the Islamic world,” Qa'ani said.
The IRGC commander said Iran would never forget the martyrdom of General Soleimani and his comrades, adding that the Islamic Republic knows those behind the targeted assassination of the top Iranian anti-terror commander, including former US President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“The criminal Trump and his accomplices, such as Pompeo, are well known to us. Martyr Soleimani had repeatedly humiliated Pompeo in the region and they thought they won by assassinating him,” Qa'ani said. “They are under the magnifying glass of all the free people of the world and they will not be safe.”
Stressing that the Islamic Republic will take revenge for General Soleimani’s assassination in its own way, the senior Iranian commander highlighted the soaring anti-Washington sentiments in Iraq and said Tehran aspired for the withdrawal of US troops from the region but achieved more than that when Iraq expelled American forces in effect.
"Your exit from the region was part of our plans, but above that, you are now being expelled from Iraq as the noble Iraqi nation will not tolerate the remaining 2,000 of your forces in their country," he noted.
'US, Zionists faltering since Gen. Soleimani assassination'
In a similar ceremony held in the southern city of Kerman, the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces said the martyrdom of General Soleimani has rendered the US and the Israeli regime unnerved.
Major General Mohammad Baqeri praised Soleimani’s bravery and wisdom in the battlefield in addition to his prudence in the diplomatic arena, saying his martyrdom has daunted the Americans and Zionists.
General Soleimani and his Iraqi comrade Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), were martyred along with their companions in a US drone strike authorized by Trump near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.
Both commanders were highly revered across the Middle East because of their key role in fighting the ISIS terrorist group in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria.
Five days later, in a military operation codenamed Operation Martyr Soleimani, the IRGC launched a volley of ballistic missiles at the Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq’s western province of Anbar and at another airbase in Erbil in the Kurdistan Region.
Iran said missile strike was only a “first slap” in its process of taking “hard revenge” and that it would not rest under the US military leaves the Middle East in disgrace.
President Raeisi: Trump and Pompeo must stand
On Monday, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi said the former US president and his secretary of state must stand trial for the “horrible crime” of assassinating General Qassem Soleimani.
Raeisi made the remarks while addressing a gathering of thousands of mourners in the Iranian capital.
Addressing the American officials during his speech, Iran’s chief executive said, “Martyr Soleimani was official guest of the Iraqi government and by assassinating him, you both violated sovereignty of Iraq and assassinated an entire nation.”
“In the face of this horrible crime, the main violator and murderer and criminal, that is, then president of America [Donald Trump] must be put on trial and be punished in accordance with the God's command,” Iran’s president said.
Raeisi went on to say, “If Trump and [his secretary of state, Mike] Pompeo and other criminals face trial before a just court and their horrible crime is prosecuted and they are punished for their brazen acts, it would be good. Otherwise I tell all the American statesmen that have no doubt that the [Muslim] Ummah will take revenge [for the assassination of Gen. Soleimani and his companion].”
He said the Americans thought that the assassination of General Soleimani would be "his last day," but they were wrong as this day marked a new birthday for the top Iranian commander and he will be always remembered.
The Iranian president added that Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has rightly said that "martyr Soleimani" is more dangerous to the enemy than "General Soleimani," because the likes of Soleimani will rise in the future.
The secret of General Soleimani's victory was his fear of God, Raeisi said, adding that the top Iranian commander was aware of the US military capabilities but he strongly believed that "the US cannot do a damn thing."
The Iranian president described General Soleimani as a "revolutionary commander that belonged to no political grouping" who had concerns about to save Islam and Muslims, sought the elimination of evil, corruption and oppression, and defended Sunnis, Shias, Palestinians, Lebanese, Yemenis, Izadis, Christians and all those who believed in the Abrahamic religions.
"Therefore, the most pressing issue for him was how to repel the enemy from the region and liberate the region," Iran's president said.
