Iran vows ‘severe revenge’ over Soleimani’s killing

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has vowed “harsh revenge” against the United States for the killing of Qasem Soleimani as he declared three days of mourning for the deceased

Khamenei said the US would pay for their action.

“His pure blood was shed in the hands of the most depraved of human beings,”

“His departure to God does not end his path or his mission, but a forceful revenge awaits the criminals who have his blood and the blood of the other martyrs last night on their hands.”.

Also the Iraqi Shia militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also killed in the air strike along with Iran’s Qasem Soleimani.

On Friday, leaders of several Iraqi militias vowed to avenge their deaths.

Influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr described the strike against Soleimani as “targeting jihad, the opposition and the revolutionary spirit of the state”.

Shia cleric and leader of Al-Hikma movement, Ammar al-Hakim, said it was a “flagrant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty”. This strike “puts the region on a hot tin roof”, he warned.

In Iraq, users re-tweeted what they said was a photocopy of a statement by Qais al-Khazali, the secretary-general of Asaib Ahl al-Haq (the League of the Righteous) militia, in which he pledged to avenge the death of both leaders.

And Al-Nujaba Movement, a major Shia group that is said to be funded by Iran, issued a statement in which it warned that the US would “regret the foolish act it committed”.

The statement also pledged that the “pain and grief” over the death of Soleimani and Muhandis would turn into “enthusiasm, rage and revolution”.

Israel puts military on alert after U.S. killing of Qassem Soleimani

Iraqis — Iraqis — dancing in the street for freedom; thankful that General Soleimani is no more. pic.twitter.com/huFcae3ap4

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 3, 2020

U.S. general, Soleimani in ‘defensive action’

The U.S. had claimed responsibility for killing of the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a “defensive action,” the Pentagon said.

“At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qassem Soleimani,” the Pentagon statement says.

The Pentagon says Soleimani was “actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.”

“General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that took place this week,” the statement continues.

The U.S. also held Soleimani and his Quds Force responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and said he “orchestrated” a rocket attack on Dec. 27, which killed an American.