BREAKING: U.S launches attack on Baghdad airport, kills Iranian military leader
U.S force has launched an air raid attack on Baghdad’s international airport.
General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC’s) Quds Force, and architect of its regional security apparatus, was reportedly killed in the early morning attack.
Confirming the killing of Soleimani in Iraq, White House and the Pentagon noted that 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.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani echoed the Supreme Leader’s threat of “revenge”, while Foreign Minister Javad Zarif condemned the killing as an “act of international terrorism.
“The US bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism,” Zarif wrote on social media.
It was also reported that aside from Soleimani, Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also killed in the pre-dawn raid.
Trump posted an image of the American flag on social media following the news of Soleimani’s death.
US Senator Lindsey Graham, an ally of Trump, said the death of Soleimani is a “major blow to Iranian regime that has American blood on its hands.”
Meanwhile, US Senator Chris Murphy, an opposition member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warned that the incident could set off “a potential massive regional war”.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, former US Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb said “there is no doubt” that the US wanted to target Soleimani “for a while”.
Korb predicted that Iran could retaliate by launching “asymmetric type of attacks” that do not risk an all-out confrontation with the US
A three-day national mourning period has been declared in Iran in honour of Soleimani.
Iranian Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, paid tribute to him as a “martyr”, and vowed a “vigorous revenge is waiting for the criminals.”
