TEHRAN (Iran News) – A top commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has reaffirmed his country’s resolve to avenge the assassination of Lt. General Qassem Soleimani, calling it a certainty.
Speaking at an event in the southwestern city of Shiraz on Wednesday, Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the naval unit of the IRGC, said Americans have been sending messages to Iran, asking it to abandon its vow to avenge the assassination of the celebrated anti-terror commander.
In return, they have offered to lift cruel sanctions on Iran, he said, calling it “wishful thinking”.
“They constantly send messages saying they will offer rewards and remove certain sanctions if we give up seeking revenge for Soleimani,” he said. “But this is wishful thinking. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution insists on taking revenge, and the IRGC commander has said that revenge is inevitable.”
He, however, said that “the time and place for it” will be determined by Iran.
Tangsiri said all those involved in the assassination of Gen. Soleimani’s “will be brought to justice,” quoting the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei: “God-willing, they will surely be punished for their filthy act in this world.”
Gen. Soleimani, who headed the IRGC’s Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), were assassinated along with their associates in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.
The midnight strike led to dramatic developments in the region and brought the two countries to the brink of direct military confrontation.
The U.S. terrorist attack drew a wave of condemnation from officials and resistance movements across the region and sparked massive protests throughout the world.
Less than a week later, IRGC fired a volley of missiles on the US-run Ain al-Assad airbase in Iraq’s western province of Anbar, which resulted in severe brain injuries to American forces stationed there.
The leader of the Islamic Revolution termed it a “slap” on the face of Americans while insisting that actual revenge was to come later, which will be determined by Iran.
Tangsiri said the enemy had thought they succeeded in eliminating Gen. Soleimani, “but you can see how Haj Ghassem has gained popularity all over the world”, she asserted.
Both anti-terror commanders were admired across the world for playing a key role in decimating the US-sponsored Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria.
The remarks by IRGC’s navy commander came days after Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh asserted that “perpetrators, officials, accomplices and advisers” in the dastardly act “will not go unpunished”, insisting that “these people must be brought to justice.”
Tehran says no agreement will be struck in Vienna until there is total consensus on the main points of discussion.
