TEHRAN, Jan 3 (NNN-Xinhua) — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday vowed “severe revenge” after the United States killed Major General Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic republic’s Quds Force, in an air strike in Baghdad, Iranian state TV reported.
Those who shed the blood of General Soleimani and his companions “should await a tough revenge,” Khamenei was quoted as saying.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) confirmed on Friday that Soleimani was killed in an airstrike on Baghdad International Airport.
The U.S. Department of Defense announced on Thursday night that U.S. forces had carried out a strike that killed Soleimani.
“At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani,” said the Pentagon in a statement.
“This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans,” the statement added. — NNN-XINHUA
