Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the US made a 'grave mistake' by assassinating top general Qassem Soleimani
- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday that the US made a "grave mistake" by assassinating top general Qassem Soleimani.
- During a visit with Soleimani's family in Tehran, Rouhani said "everyone will take revenge."
- President Donald Trump ordered the airstrike that killed Soleimani on Friday, as he was leaving the Baghdad airport. He said it was to prevent "imminent and sinister attacks."
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
The president of Iran on Saturday vowed vengeance a day after his top general, Qassem Soleimani, was killed in a US airstrike in Iraq.
President Hassan Rouhani said that the US made a "grave mistake" and "will face consequences of this criminal act not only today, but also in the coming years," according to CNN.
Rouhani visited with Soleimani's family in Tehran on Saturday, and was asked by the assassinated general's daughter "Who will take revenge for my father?"
"Everyone will take revenge," the president responded.
Soleimani was the commander of the Quds Force, an elite branch of the Iranian military that works with militias in other territories like Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq to push a pro-Iran agenda. One of these Iran-backed militias had been blamed for a December 27 rocket attack on an Iraqi military base that resulted in the death of a US contractor and multiple US servicemen.
Soleimani was killed in an airstrike while leaving the Baghdad airport on Friday. Trump said he ordered the airstrike to prevent "imminent and sinister attacks."
However, the move has been met with controversy at home and abroad, with many expressing concerns about whether it was even lawful and fears about how Iran will respond.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it could provoke "further dangerous escalation of violence," adding "we cannot put the lives of American service members, diplomats and others further at risk by engaging in provocative and disproportionate actions."
Agnès Callamard, the United Nations' special rapporteur for extrajudicial killings, argued that the airstrike "most likely" violated international law in part because the US hadn't faced an "imminent threat" and the strike killed at least six other people.
Federica Mogherini, the former European high representative for foreign and security policy, called the US strike "an extremely dangerous escalation."
However, Trump has gotten some support for the assassination from within his own party, and from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu said Trump "deserves all the credit for acting swiftly, forcefully and decisively."
"Gen. Soleimani has killed hundreds and hundreds of Americans, and was actively plotting more," GOP Sen. Ben Sasse tweeted. "This commander-in-chief - any C-in-C. - has an obligation to defend America by killing this bastard."
- Read more:
- Iranian commander killed in airstrike taunted Trump in a 2018 speech, calling him a 'bartender' and 'casino manager'
- Iranian commander and Trump fought each other with 'Game of Thrones' memes before airstrike on General Soleimani
- Hundreds of thousands of mourners are gathering for the funeral of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani
- Why the US and Iran have been adversaries for 4 decades