Soleimani was blown up in his motorcade by a Reaper drone missile outside Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020 in a strike ordered by Trump
Iran has vowed revenge against the ‘assassin’ Donald Trump unless he faces trial and ‘retribution’ for an airstrike that killed revered Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.
President Ebrahim Raisi issued the vengeful diatribe on the second anniversary of Soleimani’s death as thousands gathered for memorial services at mosques in Iran and allied countries across the Middle East.
The day of mourning exploded with violence in Baghdad this morning as two ‘suicide drones’ were shot out of the sky after targeting US troops at the airport. A photo of one of the drones showed ‘Soleimani’s revenge’ was scrawled in Arabic on its wing.
Hackers also hijacked media in Iran’s sworn enemy country, Israel, with an ominous image of a missile being fired from a finger with a ring like Soleimani used to wear appearing on the homepage of the Jerusalem Post.
Soleimani headed the Quds Force, the shadowy operations arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, with links to jihadists in Iraq, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Syria and Yemen.
The commander was blown up in his motorcade by a Reaper drone missile outside Baghdad airport in 2020 in a strike ordered by Trump after intelligence revealed Soleimani was planning attacks on American soldiers in Iraq.
Addressing Tehran’s largest mosque, Raisi said: ‘The aggressor and the main assassin, the then president of the United States, must face justice and retribution’ alongside former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo ‘and other criminals’.
‘Otherwise, I will tell all US leaders that without a doubt the hand of revenge will emerge from the sleeve of the Muslim nation.’
Trump – under whom tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme escalated, leading to a new and painful sanctions regime – ordered the assassination which brought the enemies to the brink of a direct military confrontation.
Washington said at the time that Soleimani was planning imminent action against US personnel in Iraq, a war-battered country long torn between principal allies Washington and Tehran.
The January 3, 2020 US strike killed Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy leader of the Iran-backed Hashed al-Shaabi coalition of armed groups.
The night-time strike ordered by Trump struck a convoy in which Soleimani and Muhandis were travelling on the edge of the airport.
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Soleimani, commonly known as the second-most powerful man in Iran and tipped as a future president, was so badly maimed in the strike that he had to be identified by a large ring he wore on his finger.
He had just landed in Baghdad airport on a plane from either Syria or Lebanon around 12.30am when he was met on the tarmac by Muhandis, deputy commander of the pro-Iran Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq.
Muhandis pulled up to the aircraft steps in two cars before Soleimani and Mohammed Ridha Jabri, public relations chief for the PMF who had been traveling with him, climbed inside and were driven away.
Moments later, as the cars passed through a cargo area headed for an access road leading out of the airport, the convoy was struck by missiles fired by an MQ-9 Reaper drone – a deadly unmanned aircraft that is designed primarily for offensive strikes.
Both vehicles were instantly reduced to smoldering wrecks – killing Soleimani, Muhandis and three others.
Iran responded days later by firing missiles at bases hosting US troops in Iraq. No one was killed but Washington said dozens suffered traumatic brain injuries.
Amid the heightened tensions Iran also accidentally downed a Ukrainian passenger jet on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 people aboard.
Soleimani’s funeral drew millions, and his martyr’s portrait can now be seen on streets, in squares and on buildings from Tehran to southern Lebanon and Gaza.
Commemorations were held this year across Iran as well as at Baghdad airport, in the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Najaf, in Gaza City and elsewhere.
Before dawn on Monday, two armed drones targeted a Baghdad airport site used by the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group.
‘Two fixed-wing suicide drones, or improvised cruise missiles, attempted to attack Baghdad Airport this morning at approximately 4:30 am’ (0130 GMT), a coalition official told AFP in the Iraqi capital.
A counter-rocket, artillery and mortar, or C-RAM, system ‘engaged them and they were shot down without incident,’ added the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Photos obtained by AFP from the coalition official show remains of one of the drones, with the message ‘commanders’ revenge operations’ written on it.
MailOnline