Iraj Masjedi, deputy coordinator of the Quds Force of the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), stated that Donald Trump, during his previous presidency, ordered the killing of Qasem Soleimani and must therefore face “retribution.”
On Wednesday, January 1, Masjedi said that Trump had officially announced his order to kill Soleimani, thereby performing the greatest service to “the terrorist movement.”
The Quds Force commander added, “We call on all governments and nations to loudly convey to the world that Soleimani was sacrificed by the hapless U.S. president.”
He described Soleimani as the “symbol and main agent in combating terrorists” and said that Trump must “face retribution and be prosecuted” for killing him.
Soleimani, commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force, was killed in a U.S. airstrike at Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020.
In late June 2024, Tehran Province Judiciary announced the issuance of indictments against 73 U.S. officials in connection with Soleimani’s killing.
Earlier, a Tehran court had ordered the U.S. government and 41 other individuals and entities to pay a total of $49.77 billion in this case.
Since Soleimani’s death, Iranian regime officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, have repeatedly vowed “severe revenge” against those responsible for and involved in his killing.
In January 2022, Khamenei threatened Trump with “retribution,” reiterating a statement from December 16, 2020: “They must face revenge, and this revenge is certain whenever it becomes possible.”
In December 2020, Khamenei’s Twitter account posted a poster showing Trump on a golf course under the shadow of a drone, implicitly referencing an intent to assassinate him. This post was later removed from Khamenei’s account on X (formerly Twitter).
In January 2024, Hossein Salami, commander of the IRGC, stated that contrary to comments by the IRGC’s spokesperson, the Iranian regime had not yet taken revenge for the deaths of Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the regime’s key operative in Iraq who was also killed in the drone attack, adding that this action “will be carried out at the appropriate time.”
Despite these threats, Iranian regime officials have denied accusations of attempting to assassinate Trump in recent months.
