Soleimani assassination by US ‘an adventurous move’ that will flare up tensions in Middle East – Moscow

3 Jan, 2020 09:46

Get short URL

A a destroyed vehicle on fire following a US strike on Baghdad international airport road in which top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani was killed. ©Iraqi military via AFP 

The US airstrike that killed a senior Iranian commander near Baghdad will exacerbate tensions throughout the Middle East, the Russian foreign ministry has warned.

Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, was killed in a US operation at Baghdad International Airport on Friday morning. Moscow considers the operation “an adventurous move that will lead to an escalation of tension throughout the region,” the ministry said.

“Soleimani served devotedly the cause of defending the national interests of Iran. We express our sincere condolences to the Iranian people,” the short statement said.

ALSO ON RT.COMUS killing of Iranian commander on Iraqi soil violates terms of US stationing troops in the country – Iraqi PM

The targeted assassination has sparked anger in Iran and Iraq. Officials in Tehran pledged to avenge the death of the high-profile member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) while Iran’s caretaker prime minister called it an act of aggression against his country that violates the terms under which American troops are hosted on Iraqi soil.

Washington considers the IRGC a terrorist organization and claims Soleimani was plotting attacks on American citizens. The killing comes days after Iran-backed Iraqi militias staged a riot at the US embassy in Baghdad, a response to US retaliatory airstrikes at militia forces.