IRGC chief to Trump: We will target everyone involved in Soleimani assassination

TEHRAN — The chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has warned U.S. President Donald Trump of a decisive revenge for the assassination of Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani. “Our promise to take revenge for the martyrdom of General Soleimani is decisive, serious and completely genuine,” Major General Hossein Salami said in remarks on Saturday. “Mr. Trump, do not doubt our revenge because it is completely decisive and serious,” he told the U.S. president. Salami said Iran will take a “fair revenge” and that’s why it didn’t target the American troops in Ain al-Assad airbase. On January 3, Trump ordered strikes that martyred General Soleimani, chief of the IRGC Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). In the early hours of January 8, the IRGC attacked Ain al-Assad airbase in Anbar province in western Iraq as part of its promised “tough revenge” for the U.S. terror attack. Iran notified the Iraqi government beforehand so as to avoid casualties. “We are people of honor and gallantry and we will take a fair revenge,” General Salami said. “That’s why we did not target your troops in Ain al-Assad.” “We will target those who played a direct or indirect role in the martyrdom of the great general Hajj Qassem Soleimani,” he added. Back in June, Tehran said 36 individuals have been identified in connection with the Soleimani assassination. “Do you think we would target a female ambassador in South Africa for the blood of our martyred brother?” he asked. “The Americans should know that we will target whoever had a role in the cowardly assassination of General Soleimani.” “36 individuals who cooperated, collaborated, and participated in the assassination of Hajj Qassem, including political and military authorities of the U.S. and other countries, have been identified,” Tehran Prosecutor General Ali Alqasi-Mehr said. Alqasi-Mehr named Trump as the key individual at the top of the list, saying his pursuit will continue even after his tenure as U.S. president. In a controversial move, Politico published a report on September 13, claiming that the Islamic Republic is weighing an assassination attempt against U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Lana Marks to avenge the assassination of Soleimani. Marks is a South African-born American handbag designer who founded the eponymous fashion brand, Lana Marks. She presented her diplomatic credentials to the South African government on January 28, 2020. “U.S. officials have been aware of a general threat against the ambassador, Lana Marks, since the spring,” Politico reported, citing intelligence provided by two unnamed U.S. government officials. Both Iran and South Africa dismissed the report. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a Monday statement that “we advise the United States’ officials to stop resorting to repeated and decayed methods to create anti-Iran commotion at the international arena.” However, the bizarreness of the report did not stop the U.S. president from threatening Iran with a “1,000 times greater” attack in case of any Iranian attack. “According to press reports, Iran may be planning an assassination, or another attack, against the United States in retaliation for the killing of terrorist leader Soleimani, which was carried out for his planning a future attack, murdering U.S. Troops, and the death & suffering caused over so many years,” Trump said in a tweet. “Any attack by Iran, in any form, against the United States will be met with an attack on Iran that will be 1,000 times greater in magnitude!” he added. General Salami pointed to the Politico report as well. “Do you think we would target a female ambassador in South Africa for the blood of our martyred brother?” he asked. “The Americans should know that we will target whoever had a role in the cowardly assassination of General Soleimani,” he said. “This is a serious message.” “These threats are serious and we’re not engaging in a war of words,” he said, adding, “Rather, we’ll leave everything to the field of action.”