World
IRGC commander says Iran seeks to kill Trump, Pompeo, others as revenge for Soleimani
A top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander said on Friday that Iran seeks to kill former senior US officials, including former President Donald Trump, for their involvement in the 2020 killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.
“God willing, we will be able to kill Trump… [former secretary of state Mike] Pompeo, [former head of US Central Command General Kenneth] McKenzie and those military commanders that gave the order [to kill Soleimani] must be killed,” Amirali Hajizadeh, the head of the IRGC’s aerospace unit, said on state TV.
For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Hajizadeh made these comments while discussing Iran’s missile attack on the Ain al-Assad air base, which hosts American troops in western Iraq, on January 8, 2020, five days after Soleimani’s killing. No US troops were killed in the attack.
Soleimani, who led the Quds Force, the overseas arm of the IRGC, was killed in a US airstrike in Iraq ordered by Trump.
Iranian officials have repeatedly pledged to avenge Soleimani’s death, as the attack on Ain al-Assad was seen as insufficient retaliation.
Last month, President Ebrahim Raisi, speaking on the third anniversary of Soleimani’s killing, said that revenge for Soleimani was “certain.”
In November, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Iran would “never forget” the killing of Soleimani, adding that Tehran remained committed to avenging his death.
Read more: