“The unlawful assassination of Gen Soleimani was a wake-up call: the US military presence in our region is destabilizing,” the ministry said in a tweet on Sunday on the first anniversary of the terrorist attack on general Soleimani.
The unlawful assassination of Gen Soleimani was a wake-up call: the US military presence in our region is destabilizing.
This malignancy has costed ME unspeakable destruction.
Our region should recognize this reality. Peace & security at stake.#WillNeverForgetWillNeverForgive pic.twitter.com/y5spaI1XaO
— Iran Foreign Ministry 🇮🇷 (@IRIMFA_EN) January 3, 2021
General Soleimani, who commanded the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), was admired as the Middle East's most influential and charismatic counterterrorism leader. He played a key role in helping Iraq and Syria defeat foreign-backed terrorists, chiefly Daesh, in late 2017.
The top commander was assassinated on January 3, 2020 in a drone strike outside Baghdad International Airport upon a direct order by US President Donald Trump.
His Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) anti-terror force, along with several others were also killed when their convoy was hit.
In its tweet, the ministry likened the US presence in the region to a malignant tumor, noting that "this malignancy has costed ME unspeakable destruction” and urging regional countries to recognize the reality that their peace and security are at stake.
Addressing a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani described the assassination of top Iranian anti-terror commander as “an act of revenge” by the US and Israel against the Islamic Republic and other independent nations that foiled the pair’s sinister plots to destabilize the region.
“The martyrdom of General Soleimani was an act of revenge against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the independence of regional countries as well as those great nations that stood against the conspiracies of the United States and Zionism, and broke them,” Rouhani said.