The Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Hossein Salami, said that his country would not be satisfied with words, and would respond with all force, proportionate and destructive action, to any aggression targeting its territory, vowing to avenge those involved in the killing of the Quds Force commander, General Qassem Soleimani.
Salami added that the Iranian response to the assassination of Qassem Soleimani is inevitable and will target people who had a direct or indirect role in his assassination.
He also stressed that the Revolutionary Guards ’retaliation for the assassination of Soleimani would be fair, and for this reason Iran did not target the American soldiers at Ain al-Assad base in Iraq, he said.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump threatened Iran with a "thousand times stronger" response in the event of any attack on his country, following reports that Tehran was planning to target the US ambassador to South Africa, Lana Marks, in response to the killing of Soleimani.
"Mr. Trump, our revenge for the martyrdom of our great leader is serious, certain and realistic, but we are honest and we take the issue of revenge with fairness and justice," Salami said in his remarks, reported today by the Revolutionary Guard’s "Sepah News" website.
"You think that we will target an ambassador in South Africa (in revenge) for the blood of our martyr brother. We are hitting those who were directly or indirectly involved in the martyrdom of this great man, and you should know that we will target whoever was involved, whoever he was (...) and this is a serious message. ".
Soleimani, one of the most prominent Iranian military commanders, was killed in an air strike carried out by an American drone near Baghdad airport at dawn on January 3.
The deputy head of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Authority, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who accompanied him spent his time with him.
The Pentagon confirmed at the time that Trump had ordered the targeting of the Iranian general.
Days later, Iran responded by targeting the Ain al-Assad base in western Iraq, where American soldiers are stationed.