The assassination of General Soleimani was a heinous crime and an act of terrorism by a government that claims to combat terrorists in the world, Brigadier General Hatami said in a speech in the southeastern city of Kerman on Tuesday.
He further pointed to the IRGC missile attack on the US airbase of Ain al-Assad in western Iraq and said the arrogant enemy (the US) used to speak of the military option against Iran being on the table in previous years but today there is no such option on the table.
“After the martyrdom of Gen. Soleimani, they (the American officials) were given a soft and a hard response,” the defense minister said.
The Iranian people with their massive presence at the funeral of Gen. Soleimani responded “softly”, conveying the message to the enemy that it should face all Iranians if it wants to wage a war, he added.
Brigadier General Hatami went on to say that the IRGC attack on the US airbase was the Islamic Republic’s hard response to the Americans and proved its decisiveness and resolve.
General Soleimani, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was the deputy head of Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha'abi (PMU), and a number of their entourage were killed in a strike by American drones near Baghdad International Airport on Friday, January 3.
The White House and the Pentagon claimed responsibility for the assassination of General Soleimani in Iraq, saying the attack was carried out at the direction of US President Donald Trump.
In the early hours of January 8, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) targeted the US airbase of Ain al-Assad in retaliation for the US move.