Iran vows revenge against Donald Trump unless former US president is tried for Soleimani killing
- Tehran marked two years since General Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi lieutenant were assassinated in a US drone strike at Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020
- Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said: ‘The aggressor and the main assassin, the then president of the US, must face justice and retribution’
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi vowed revenge against Donald Trump unless the former US president is tried over the killing of Qassem Soleimani, as Tehran marked two years since the revered commander’s death.
The Islamic republic and its allies across the Middle East held emotional commemorations for General Soleimani and his Iraqi lieutenant who were assassinated in a US drone strike at Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020.
Tehran’s arch enemies were targeted on the day of the anniversary in unclaimed drone and cyberattacks – with two armed unstaffed aerial vehicles intercepted by the US-led coalition in Iraq over Baghdad airport, and hackers attacking Israeli media sites.
Soleimani headed the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, with links to armed groups in Iraq, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Syria and Yemen.
Raisi, addressing Tehran’s largest prayer hall, said: “The aggressor and the main assassin, the then president of the United States, must face justice and retribution” alongside former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo “and other criminals”.
“Otherwise, I will tell all US leaders that without a doubt the hand of revenge will emerge from the sleeve of the Muslim nation.”
Trump – under whom tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme escalated, leading to a new and painful sanctions regime – ordered the assassination which brought the enemies to the brink of a direct military confrontation.
Washington said at the time that Soleimani was planning imminent action against US personnel in Iraq, a war-battered country long torn between principal allies Washington and Tehran.
