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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed “severe revenge” on those responsible for the death of top military commander Qasem Soleimani.

In a message issued Friday on the killing of the Grand Commander, he stressed that severe revenge is waiting for those who are behind this ‘criminal act’.

He also announced three days of national mourning. The ayatollah would lead prayers at the general’s funeral on Saturday morning, Iranian media quoted Soleimani’s family as saying.

The message was issued following the killing of the Major General of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) and the acting commander of the volunteer Iraqi Shia Forces, known as the Deputy Commander of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (the Hash al-Shaabi) Abu Mahdi Al-Mohandes.

Soleimani was killed by an air strike at Baghdad airport early on Friday ordered by US President Donald Trump.

The 62-year-old spearheaded Iranian operations in the Middle East as head of the elite Quds Force. Mr Trump said he caused millions of deaths.

The killing marks a major escalation in tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Soleimani was widely seen as the second most powerful figure in Iran, behind Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. The Quds Force, an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported directly to the ayatollah and Soleimani was hailed as a heroic national figure.

Later, the Supreme National Security Council, Iran’s top security body, said the US would be held responsible for its “criminal adventurism”.

“This was the biggest US strategic blunder in the West Asia region, and America will not easily escape its consequences,” it said in a statement.

US President Trump, who was in Florida at the time of the strike, tweeted an image of the American flag shortly afterwards.

Tweeting again on Friday, Mr Trump said Soleimani had “killed or badly wounded thousands of Americans… and was plotting to kill many more” and “should have been taken out many years ago”.

“While Iran will never be able to properly admit it, Soleimani was both hated and feared within the country,” he said.

A statement from the Pentagon – the headquarters of the US Department of Defense – said Soleimani had been “developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region”.

“This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans,” it added.

How did the strike take place and who was killed?
Soleimani and officials from Iran-backed militias were leaving Baghdad airport in two cars when they were hit by several missiles from a US drone strike near a cargo area.

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