Iran vows revenge after US airstrike kills General Qassem Soleimani

This appeared in The Millennial Source

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed “severe revenge” after an airstrike by the United States on a pair of cars at Baghdad International Airport killed Iranian Quds Force General Qassem Soleimani on January 3, 2020. “All enemies should know that the jihad of resistance will continue with a doubled motivation, and a definite victory awaits the fighters in the holy war,” Khamenei said after calling for three days of national mourning following Soleimani’s death.

The US airstrikes carried out by military helicopters also killed Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi or Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) — an umbrella organization uniting primarily Iran-backed Shiite paramilitary groups. According to Iranian state media, al-Muhandis was traveling with Soleimani when the vehicles were struck.

American citizens have been urged by the US embassy in Baghdad to leave Iran immediately, following the news of Soleimani’s killing.

Motivation for the strike

The Pentagon has confirmed that Soleimani was killed alongside six others by the airstrike in Baghdad. “At the direction of the President, the…