Iran pledges retaliation for all involved in Soleimani’s death

by Celine Castronuovo - 09/19/20 3:02 PM ET

The chief of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard on Saturday threatened to take action against anyone involved in a top general’s January killing during a U.S. drone strike in Iraq.

According to the Associated Press, Gen. Hossein Salami is quoted on the paramilitary guard’s website as saying, “Mr. Trump! Our revenge for [the] martyrdom of our great general is obvious, serious and real.”

This pronouncement comes after President Trump warned Iran Monday that any attempt at retaliation for the death of Gen. Qassem Soleimani “will be met with an attack on Iran that will be 1,000 times greater in magnitude.”

“According to press reports, Iran may be planning an assassination, or other attack, against the United States in retaliation for the killing of terrorist leader Soleimani, which was carried out for his planning a future attack, murdering U.S. Troops, and the death & suffering caused over so many years,” Trump tweeted amid reports that U.S. intelligence officials believed the Iranian government was considering a plan to assassinate the U.S. ambassador to South Africa.

The AP reported that Salami denied the alleged assassination plot, but added that Tehran sought to avenge the general’s death.

“Do you think we hit a female ambassador in return to our martyred brother?” Salami said. “We will hit those who had direct and indirect roles. You should know that everybody who had [a] role in the event will be hit, and this is a serious message. We do prove everything in practice.”

In January, Iran responded to the fatal drone strike by launching a ballistic missile attack targeting U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq.

The Trump administration has said that all United Nations sanctions against Iran will officially return Saturday night, although the vast majority of the Security Council has rejected U.S. authority to reinstate the sanctions. The White House is attempting to reimpose U.N. sanctions on Iran that were lifted as part of the 2015 nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), between Iran and several other countries.