Iran: We’ll Hit All Involved in Soleimani Death

Gen. Hossein Salami, head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has warned that the Islamic Republic will target “everyone” involved in the death of Qasem Soleimani, who led the IRGC’s elite Quds Force and was killed in a US drone strike undertaken outside Baghdad’s international airport. Salami was reacting to a warning issued by US President Donald Trump that “we’re going to hit them 1,000 times harder.” Trump’s comment came after reports surfaced that part of Iran’s plans for revenge included the assassination of the US ambassador to South Africa, Lana Marks. “Do you think we will hit a female ambassador in return to our martyred brother?” Salami was quoted on Saturday as saying on the IRGC website. “We will hit those who had direct and indirect roles. You should know that everybody who had role in the event will be hit, and this is a serious message. We do prove everything in practice.” The January 3 drone strike killed 10 people, including Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, head of Kata’ib Hizbullah, considered the most potent of several Iraqi Shi’ite militias taking their orders from Tehran and known as the Popular Mobilization Forces.