Soleimani’s killing Foreign minister explains why Iran must retaliate, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian Foreign Minister has again warned the United States that its days in the Middle East are “numbered.”
Zarif had issued a similar threat earlier when he declared that the work to end “US malign presence in West Asia had begun.”
The Minister described the US assassination of a top Iranian military commander, Qassem Soleimani and others last week as “an act of war. “
In an interview with Al Jazeera on Tuesday, Zarif said Iran’s response to Soleimani’s assassination would come in due course.
“Iran will respond because there was an act of war – an act of war combined with an act of terrorism against a senior official of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a citizen of Iran,” Zarif said.
“We are bound to protect our citizens and our military officials. It was an act that has to be reciprocated by Iran. We will make the necessary deliberations and it will be an act that we will do, not in a hurry, not in a hasty manner.”
The Military chief was killed along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi).
His death has triggered a dramatic escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
“The act by the United States, it enraged the feelings of many people outside Iran, inside Iran – that will have consequences for the United States,” Zarif added.
His remarks came as dozens of people were killed in a stampede that erupted in the city of Kerman during the slain commander’s funeral procession.
