Top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani was killed Friday in a US strike on Baghdad’s international airport, Iran and the US confirmed, in the most dramatic episode yet of escalating tensions between the two countries.
The Pentagon said US President Donald Trump ordered Soleimani’s "killing," after a pro-Iran mob this week laid siege to the US embassy.
Declaring three days of mourning across the country, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to take "severe revenge" for Soleimani’s death.
Trump tweeted out a picture of the US flag without any explanation, as the pre-dawn developments marked the most major escalation yet in a feared proxy war between Iran and the US on Iraqi soil.
The assassination of a senior Iranian general in a US strike has sent shockwaves around the world.
Following are the latest updates on the situation:US killing of Iran general will ‘increase tensions’: Moscow
Moscow warned Friday that the US killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in Iraq would boost tensions across the Middle East.
"The killing of Soleimani.... was an adventurist step that will increase tensions throughout the region," news agencies RIA Novosti and TASS quoted the foreign ministry as saying.
"Soleimani served the cause of protecting Iran’s national interests with devotion. We express our sincere condolences to the Iranian people."
Iraq PM says US strike threatens ‘devastating war’
Iraq’s caretaker prime minister Adel Abdel Mahdi slammed a US strike that killed top Iraqi and Iranian commanders in Baghdad on Friday as an "aggression" that would "spark a devastating war".
"The assassination of an Iraqi military commander in an official post is an aggression against the country of Iraq, its state, its government and its people," Abdel Mahdi said in a statement.
He was referring to Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the powerful Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force, who died in the strike along with Iranian commander Major General Qasem Soleimani.
Abdel Mahdi said the strike was also a "flagrant violation of the conditions authorising the presence of US troops" on Iraqi soil.
US embassy in Baghdad urges citizens to ‘depart Iraq immediately’
The US embassy in Baghdad urged American citizens in Iraq on Friday to "depart immediately", for fear of fallout from a US strike that killed top Iranian and Iraqi commanders.
"US citizens should depart via airline while possible, and failing that, to other countries via land," the embassy said in a statement.
The US strike hit outside Baghdad airport early Friday but security sources told AFP it was still open to flights.
Iraq’s Sadr reactivates anti-US ‘Mahdi Army’ after strike: tweet
Iraq’s militia leader turned populist politician Moqtada Sadr reactivated his Mahdi Army Friday following a US strike that killed top Iranian and Iraqi commanders.
Taking to Twitter, Sadr ordered "fighters, particularly those from the Mahdi Army, to be ready" following the strike, reactivating the notoriously anti-American force nearly a decade after he dissolved it.
China urges ‘calm and restraint’ after US kills Iran general
China on Friday appealed for restraint from all sides, "especially the United States", after top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US strike in Iraq.
"We urge the relevant sides, especially the United States, to remain calm and exercise restraint to avoid further escalating tensions," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily press briefing.
Republicans praise Soleimani strike as Congress says wasn’t warned
Republican lawmakers quickly spoke out Thursday in strong support of President Donald Trump’s attack that killed Iran Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, as Congress complained it received no advance notice of the strike.
The high praise from the right stood in stark contrast to reaction from Democrats, who severely criticized Trump’s latest move in a sign of Washington’s polarization ahead of this year’s presidential elections.
"In a display of resolve and strength, we struck the leader of those attacking our sovereign U.S. territories," top House Republican Kevin McCarthy said in a statement.
The sentiment was swiftly echoed by his fellow Republicans.
"Wow - the price of killing and injuring Americans has just gone up drastically," Senator Lindsey Graham, a close confidant of Trump, wrote on Twitter.
Iran summons Swiss envoy US killing of Soleimani killing
Tehran on Friday summoned an official from the Swiss embassy, which represents US interests in Iran, to condemn the killing of one of its top commanders, Qasem Soleimani, by American forces.
"Following the assassination of General Soleimani by US forces, the Swiss charge d’affaires was summoned and Iran’s serious condemnation was conveyed to him," Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi tweeted.
"He was told that this is a clear instance of America’s state terrorism and America’s regime will be fully responsible for its consequences," he added.
Iran supreme leader vows ‘severe revenge’ for Soleimani killing
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed "severe revenge" after the United States killed the commander of the Islamic republic’s Quds Force, General Qasem Soleimani, in Baghdad on Friday.
"Martyrdom was the reward for his ceaseless efforts in all these years," Khamenei said on his Farsi-language Twitter account in reference to Soleimani, also declaring three days of mourning.
"With him gone, God willing, his work and his path will not be stopped, but severe revenge awaits the criminals who bloodied their foul hands with his blood and other martyrs’ in last night’s incident."
Oil prices soar more than 4% after Iranian general killed
Oil prices soared more than four percent Friday following claims that the US had killed a top Iranian general, ratcheting up tensions between the foes and fuelling fears of a conflict in the crude-rich region.
The head of Iran’s Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, was hit in an attack on Baghdad international airport early Friday, according to Hased, a powerful Iraqi paramilitary force linked to Tehran.
Brent surged 4.4 percent to $69.16 and WTI jumped 4.3 percent to 63.84.
from The News International - World https://ift.tt/35f4kB6
0 comments:
Post a Comment