Iran threatens revenge for Trump killing of Qassem Soleimani
Fox News contributor Gen. Jack Keane discusses what's behind Iran saber-rattling on the one-year anniversary of the drone strike that killed terrorist leader and Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
The leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps is warning President Trump that "revenge on the perpetrators of [General Qassem] Soleimani’s martyrdom is definite and serious," according to a video that has surfaced on Twitter.
Major Gen. Hossein Salami made the comments – which were translated from Persian -- during a speech broadcast on the state-run IRIB News Agency. They came following the one-year anniversary of the assassination of Iran’s former top general, who mourners gathered to remember this past weekend at the site where he was hit by a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad.
A senior military official in Iran on Friday previously threatened an attack on some 35 "American targets," including "destroyers and warships" near the Persian Gulf, promising to seek revenge for the killing of Soleimani, according to a report.
The leader of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, Major Gen. Hossein Salami, attends a ceremony on the first anniversary of Soleimani's death. (AP)
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Meanwhile, an arrest warrant was issued Thursday for Trump in connection with the killing of Soleimani and a powerful Iraqi militia leader last year, Iraq's judiciary announced.
The warrant was issued by a judge in Baghdad's investigative court tasked with probing the drone strike that killed Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the court's media office said.
Al-Muhandis was the deputy leader of the state-sanctioned Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group composed of an array of militias, including Iran-backed groups, formed to fight the Islamic State terrorist group.
Soleimani headed the Quds force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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The arrest warrant was for a charge of premeditated murder, which carries the death penalty on conviction. It is unlikely to be carried out but is symbolic in the waning days of Trump's presidency.
The decision to issue the warrant "was made after the judge recorded the statements of the claimants from the family of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis," according to a statement from the Supreme Judicial Council. The investigation into the killings is ongoing, the court said.
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The killings sparked a diplomatic crisis and strained U.S.-Iraq ties, drawing the ire of Shiite political lawmakers who passed a non-binding resolution to pressure the government to oust foreign troops from the country.
Iran-backed groups have since stepped up attacks against the American presence in Iraq, leading to threats by Washington to shutter its Baghdad diplomatic mission.
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj and the Associated Press contributed to this report.