Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called Iraqi President Barham Salih to discuss the "defensive action" of the airstrike that killed Qasem Soleimani on Friday, which took place "in response to imminent threats against American personnel," according a readout from the US state department. 

President Salih "agreed on the need to reduce tensions in the region" during the phone call, while Secretary Pompeo "reiterated U.S. commitment to a sovereign and independent Iraq," the readout added.

Supporters of the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia attacked the US embassy in Baghdad on Thursday, while an attack on the K-1 military base in Kirkuk last Friday killed an American civilian contractor and injured a number of American personnel. Washington accused Kataib Hezbollah of being behind the missile strike. 

Pompeo has now spoken to two of Iraq's three presidencies - parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi and President Salih. He has yet to speak to outgoing prime minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.  Continue Reading

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's string of phone calls to world leaders continues. Pompeo spoke to Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani to discuss the "defensive action" of the airstrike that killed Iranian general Qasim Soleimani and Iran-backed militia deputy leader Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis on Friday.

"I thanked him for his steadfast partnership. We agreed on the need for continued, close cooperation," Pompeo said on Twitter.

In my conversation today with @masrour_barzani, we discussed yesterday's defensive action and our commitment to de-escalation. I thanked him for his steadfast partnership. We agreed on the need for continued, close cooperation.

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 3, 2020

Barzani added via Twitter that he and Pompeo "agreed on the importance of deescalating tensions in Iraq through restraint and dialogue."

I held talks this evening with @SecPompeo on recent events. We agreed on the importance of deescalating tensions in Iraq through restraint and dialogue- mb.

— Masrour Barzani (@masrour_barzani) January 3, 2020

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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced intent to designate Popular Mobilization Forces faction Asaib Ahl al-Haq as a terrorist organization, according to a media note from the US state department.

Secretary of State Pompeo will also designate Asaib Ahl al-Haq and two of its leaders - Qais al-Khazali and Laith al-Khazali - as "Specially Designated Global Terrorists", according to the note.

Matthew Zais, former Iraq Director for the National Security Council, called the move "long overdue" and "a critical step for Iraq to become sovereign and independent from Iranian backed terror."

As Iraq Director @WHNSC from ‘17-‘19 we pushed this for 2 years. Some argued AAH was turning from militancy to political-it was a fantasy. Like the killing of #soleimani, long overdue. A critical step for Iraq to become sovereign and independent from Iranian backed terror. https://t.co/pdNLL4vL8l

— Matthew Zais (@mattzais) January 3, 2020

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Iraq's government has announced there will be a funeral for the “heroes of the battles of the victory over ISIS" at 10 am on Saturday morning - in reference to Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis and other members of the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) killed in the US airstrike on Baghdad in the early hours of Friday. 

The ceremony will take place in Hassanein Square, Baghdad, according to the Prime Minister's office statement. Continue Reading

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has sent telegrams of condolence to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei following the killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Qasem Soleimani.

Soleimani was commander of the IRGC's Quds Force, which has provided military support to President Assad since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011. 

“The martyr Soleimani will remain immortal in the consciences of Syrians who will not forget his standing by the Syrian Arab Army when defending Syria against terrorism and its supporters,” Assad said in his telegram to Khomeini, adding that the deceased leader of IRGC had achieved many victories in Syria.
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Speaker of Iraqi parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi said he received the news of Soleimani’s death with “deep grief and sorrow” in a statement published on social media on Friday, and praised the general’s role in the fight against Islamic State. 

Soleimani had “a prominent role in the battles to liberate Iraqi lands from the terrorist of ISIS gangs, underlining the most magnificent images of courage,” Halbousi said.

He described Friday's US airstrike “a flagrant violation of sovereignty, and a violation of international conventions.”

He called on everyone to “exercise restraint, to prevail over wisdom, to unite ranks, to face challenges, and to distance Iraq from being a battlefield or a party to any regional or international conflict, and to spare it from of any armed conflicts, and to maintain the stability and security of the country, which has been exhausted by wars.”
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US President Donald Trump has taken to Twitter to further defend the American airstrike that killed Qasem Soleimani.

Echoing statements made by other senior American officials, Trump said Soleimani, commander of the Iran Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, was "plotting to kill many more [Americans]...but got caught!"

General Qassem Soleimani has killed or badly wounded thousands of Americans over an extended period of time, and was plotting to kill many more...but got caught! He was directly and indirectly responsible for the death of millions of people, including the recent large number....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2020

With state-sponsored rallies mourning Soleimani taking place in Tehran today, Trump said Iranians "are not nearly as saddened as the leaders will let the outside world believe." Continue Reading

Iranians have poured into the streets across the country in mourning for Gen. Qasem Soleimani in state-sponsored rallies. 

National broadcaster IRINN interviewed people across the country; most vowed that retaliation will be severe.

"Spilling the blood of Soleimani makes our revolution stronger,” said one woman.

A man speaking from his car said, “Soleimani was in love with martyrdom."

Soleimani is being hailed in Iran as a “living martyr.”
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Iraq’s President Barham Salih condemned the US killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. He urged restraint to preserve peace in the fragile region. 

“We condemn this aggression that was against security leaders belonging to the Iraqi Military Institution,” the Salih said in a published statement.   

The president said that the two military leaders had an “important role” in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) and their deaths will “without a doubt have security effects and repercussions in Iraq and the region.” 

He called for rational and reasonable minds to prevail as Iraq decides what steps to take. 

“We call on everyone to have restraint and have the voice of reason and wisdom rule, and for supreme national interests be prioritized,” he said. 

The president also called on Iraqis to unite for the sake of protecting the country’s security and sovereignty.

The president of the European Council has also called for calm.

 “The cycle of violence, provocations and retaliations which we have witnessed In Iraq over the past few weeks has to stop. Further escalation must be avoided at all cost,” said Charles Michel, president of the European Council. 

Noting the fragility of Iraq, he added, “Too many weapons and too many militias are slowing the process towards a return to normal daily life for Iraq’s citizens,” and warned that flaring violence could affect the whole region. 
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Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has appointed Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani as the new head of the Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force. 

Ghaani, appointed as Deputy Commander of the Quds Force in 1997, served alongside Qasem Soleimani for several years, and was also active in the Iran-Iraq war. 

The Qud Force is responsible for military operations and unconventional warfare abroad. 

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Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short a visit to Greece to return home, AFP reported, and the country’s security cabinet will meet on Friday to discuss fallout, including possible threats to Israel, from the US killing of Gen. Qasem Soleimani. 

Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned the killing of Soleimani could raise already high tensions in the Middle East. “We consider Soleimani’s murder in a US missile strike at the suburbs of Baghdad an adventurous step that will lead to growing tensions throughout the region,” a ministry source told TASS news agency.

France will work with regional players and the “priority is to stabilize the region,” Junior Foreign Affairs Minister Amelie de Montchalin said. 

“What is happening is what we feared: tensions between the United States and Iran are increasing,” she told RTL radio. 
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The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah threatened revenge for the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani in a statement on Friday. 

“Just retribution on the killers of the Mujahideen will be the responsibility, trusteeship, and action of all resistors,” Nasrallah said, according to Hezbollah-affiliated al-Manar. 

“We, who remain after him, will complete his road, work on achieving his goals, and we will raise his banner in all fields,” added Nasrallah, who vowed the US will achieve nothing with this “big crime.”

Hezbollah is considered an Iranian proxy in Lebanon. 
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Iraq’s caretaker Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi has condemned US “aggression” and asked parliament to hold an emergency session to formulate a response to the US strike that killed Iran’s Gen. Qasem Soleimani and deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

The “assassination” of Muhandis, “an Iraqi political leader holding an official position,” is an “aggression” against the Iraqi people, state, and government, Abdul-Mahdi stated. The killings are a “blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty” and an escalation that could drag Iraq and the world into a war, he added.

The US action violated the conditions of their deployment to Iraq under the international anti-Islamic State (ISIS) Coalition, the prime minister stated.

Abdul-Mahdi and asked parliament to convene to "organize the official Iraqi stance, undertake legislative decisions and necessary measures appropriate in a manner that preserves the dignity, security and sovereignty of Iraq.”

The US Embassy in Baghdad has urged its citizens to "depart Iraq immediately," AFP reported. 
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Influential Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has ordered his armed militia to be ready, but has called for all parties to be calm and act wisely after the US killed Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF).

“I, in my capacity as the head of the Iraqi National Resistance, give the order for readiness of the Mujahideen, especially the Imam Mahdi Army and Al-Youm al-Mawoud Brigade, and all those national, disciplined factions under our order for us to be on full readiness to protect Iraq,” he tweeted on Friday morning. 

Sadr formed his Mahdi Army in 2003. The militia fought fiercely against US occupation and was responsible for the deaths of many US troops until it was disbanded in 2008. It re-emerged in 2014 in the fight across the Islamic State (ISIS) as the rebranded Peace Brigades and are currently defending anti-government protesters in Baghdad. 

Sadr vowed the killing of Soleimani will not “destroy our will or jihad.”

But he urged calm in order to avoid throwing Iraq into another crisis. “I pray to Allah that the region be staved off from danger, for our dear Iraq be staved off from dangers and ordeals, and I hope everyone is wise and shrewd,” he stated. 

 

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Nationwide rallies are planned in Iran on Friday, to condemn the US killing of Gen. Qasem Soleimani, according to Fars News. 

Iran's ambassador to Iraq, Iraj Masjidi, said they are coordinating with the Iraqi side to return the corpses to Iran. Masjidi said that ten people were killed in the attack including Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, but did not identify the others. 

“Since the early hours of morning, the officials and Iraqi personalities are in contact with us to offer their condolences and assistance,” Masjidi told state news channel IRIB news.

 

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Iran President Hassan Rouhani condemned the US attack that killed Gen. Qasem Soleimani, saying Washington has “trampled on all the humane principles and international rights.”

"Without a doubt, revenge for this horrific crime will be inflicted on the criminal America by the great people of Iran and other free nations in the region,” he said. 
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Mohsen Rezaei, who headed the IRGC for 17 years from 1980 to 1997, said on Twitter that Iran “will inflict a harsh revenge on Americans” for the death of Qasem Soleimani, whose rank was raised posthumously to Lieutenant General.

Soleimani received Iran’s most prestigious medal of honor, the Order of Zulfiqar, in March, becoming the only commander after the revolution of 1979 to receive the medal. The Order of Zulfiqar was coined in 1921 and only ten officers have received the honour it its history. 

The killing of Soleimani and Iraq’s Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis is the latest escalation between the US and Iran, taking place on Iraqi soil. On December 27, a US contractor was killed in an attack on the K-1 base near Kirkuk. The attack was blamed on the Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi Shiite militia force backed by Iran. 

The US retaliated, carrying out airstrikes on five locations belonging to the militia on Sunday, killing 25 members of Kataib Hezbollah. During funeral processions in Baghdad on Tuesday, angry militiamen and their supporters stormed the US embassy compound, withdrawing the following day by order of caretaker Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi. On Wednesday, the US announced it was deploying an additional 750 troops to the Middle East. 
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, to whom General Qasem Soleimani was answerable, in a statement described the Quds commander as “dear” with years of struggle against “Satans and the thugs of the world.”

Khamenei said “a harsh revenge is awaiting criminals” who were involved in killing Soleimani and others in the early Friday morning attack.

He announced three days of morning. 

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that Iraqis “dancing in the street for freedom; thankful that General Soleimani is no more.”

Iraq’s Security Media Cell reported that “three katyusha rockets fell on Baghdad International Airport near the air cargo hall, leading to the burning of two vehicles and the injury of some people.”
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General Qasem Soleimani, the architect of Iran’s Middle East policy, has been killed in a United States airstrike near Baghdad airport in the early hours of Friday morning, according a statement from the US Department of Defense.

“At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,” the Pentagon said.

“General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region,” the statement added.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed the news in a statement and said that Soleimani was killed alongside the deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis as well as a number of other PMF officers near Baghdad airport. 

The IRGC said US helicopter gunships fired four rockets at a PMF convoy as it was leaving Baghdad airport.

“The US' act of international terrorism, targeting & assassinating General Soleimani—THE most effective force fighting Daesh (ISIS), Al Nusrah, Al Qaeda et al—is extremely dangerous,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a tweet.  “A foolish escalation. The US bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism.”

US President Donald Trump tweeted an American flag.

pic.twitter.com/VXeKiVzpTf

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2020

Brett McGurk, former US presidential envoy to the Global Coalition against Islamic State, who had dealings with Soleimani indirectly, cautioned about the “unknowable consequences” of the US action. “The news out of Iraq is a measure of justice done but with unknowable consequences. We need to protect our people throughout the Middle East and presume a war posture,” McGurk tweeted. “We must also reinforce our position in Iraq and maintain our coalition presence. Mitigate boomerang risks.”

Kaywan Khosravi, spokesperson for Iran’s Supreme National Security Council which takes major national security decisions, said the council was meeting to discuss the “criminal act” which led to the killing of Soleimani, according to IRGC-affiliated Farsnews.

Soleimani was born in 1956 in the village of Qanat Malak in the central province of Kerman. He came to prominence during the Iran-Iraq war after he joined the IRGC as a young man.

 

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