Iran condemns US killing of Quds Force head Qassem Soleimani
Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei said killing of Qassem Soleimani will double motivation of resistance against the US and Israel
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has condemned the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, as an "act of international terrorism.""The US bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism," Zairf said in a statement on Friday, warning that the move would strengthen resistance against the United States and Israel in the region and the world, Iranian state television reported."The brutality and stupidity of American terrorist forces in assassinating Commander Soleimani ... will undoubtedly make the tree of resistance in the region and the world more prosperous," said Zarif.Soleimani, considered the architect of Iran's regional security apparatus, was killed along with at least six others following a US air strike at Baghdad's international airport. Iraqi armed group commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an adviser to Soleimani, was also killed in the attack.Following the announcement, Iranian state television presenters wore black and broadcast footage of Soleimani peering through binoculars across a desert and greeting a soldier, and of Muhandis speaking to followers.The high-profile killings come amid a sharp escalation in Iran-US tensions. On Tuesday, Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq and their supporters held a violent protest at the US embassy in Baghdad, setting fires and attempting to storm heavily fortified compound.The protest came after the US attacked sites in Iraq and Syria belonging to Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Iraqi militia founded by Muhandis and which falls under the Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces). At least 25 Kataib Hezbollah fighters were killed in the attack.

'Harsh retaliation'
Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei warned that "a harsh retaliation is waiting" and also announced a three-day mourning across Iran.He said the killing of Soleimani, who he considered a close friend and confidant, would double the motivation of the resistance against the US and Israel."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 in a statement carried by state TV.Mohsen Rezaei, the former commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, also warned the US of "revenge"."He [Soleimani] joined his martyred brothers, but we will take vigorous revenge on America," Rezaei, who is now the secretary of a powerful state body, said in a post on Twitter.Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera's Dorsa Jabbari said that a strong Iranian response was expected.

"There's a clear indication that there will be a military response at some point.
"It is seen as a hostile act on an Iranian general who was not there in an official military capacity. Qassem Soleimani was in Iraq on an advisory role."The supreme leader has said that this glorious, grandiose, and great fighter has now been martyred. He said he was one of the great followers of the late Ayotollah Khomeini, the founder of the Revolutionary Guard. "His death by the US is being seen as an act of war and it will certainly have a very strong response," Jabari said.

Ordered killing
The White House and the Pentagon confirmed the killing of Soleimani in Iraq, saying the attack was carried out at the direction of US President Donald Trump and was aimed at deterring future attacks allegedly being planned by Iran.The Pentagon said Trump had ordered Soleimani's "killing" after pro-Iran protesters this week stormed the US embassy in Baghdad. Following Soleimani's death, Trump tweeted an image of the US flag without any further explanation.A senior House Democrat said late Thursday that US legislators were not told in advance of the attack ordered by Trump.The strike conducted in Iraq against Soleimani "went forward with no notification or consultation with Congress," House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Eliot Engel said in a statement. Soleimani was "the mastermind of immense violence" who has "the blood of Americans on his hands," the Democratic lawmaker said. But "to push ahead with an action of this gravity without involving Congress raises serious legal problems and is an affront to Congress's powers as a coequal branch of government," Engel added.

SOURCE: https://confluencenewsbit..com/2020/01/usa-kills-irans-general-and-others.html?m=1