Iran warned that a "harsh retaliation is waiting" for the U.S. after top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani was killed by the Pentagon in an airstrike.
Iran warned Friday that a"harsh retaliation is waiting" for the United States after top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani was killed by the Pentagon in an airstrike. Khamenei said in a statement published by Iranian state media that the"cruelest people on earth" assassinated the"honorable" commander who"courageously fought for years against the evils and bandits of the world.
Story continuesThe Pentagon defended the targeting of Soleimani as a defensive action, saying that Soleimani had"orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months - including the attack on December 27th - culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel."
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, appeared to threaten U.S. troops in the region."This is the time to clear the region from these insidious beasts," he said while leading Friday prayers in Tehran, according to state media. The cleric added:"I am telling Americans, especially Trump, we will take a revenge that will change their daylight into a nighttime darkness.
Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the foreign affairs committee in Russia's parliament, called the U.S. airstrike"a mistake.
Senator Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, said "Trump’s decision to kill Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad is a provocative act taken without congressional consultation or authorization, the potential consequences of which are unknown." Pahlavi proved to be a reliable U.S. ally who helped counter the influence of the Soviet Union but he was toppled in 1979 as part of Iran's Islamic Revolution, a period that led to a hostage crisis at the U.S.'s then Embassy in Tehran.
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