TEHRAN - The spokesman for the Iranian government said on Friday that IRGC Quds Commander Lieutenant General Soleimani, who was assassinated in a U.S. air raid in Baghdad early on Friday, was a symbol of the Iranians’ national security, unity and might. 

“The U.S. has crossed the red-line. The Iranian nation will give crushing response to them in due time,” Ali Rabiei said.

He further added that the government along with the entire Iranians are entitled to take revenge on the assassination of Lieutenant General Soleimani.  

“We are not after war, but, we will not allow any aggression against any Iranian or any symbol of our national security,” Rabiei said in reference to remarks by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution. 

The IRGC announced in a statement on Friday morning that General Soleimani had been martyred in the air attack carried out by U.S. helicopters. 

Soleimani was one of the main figures in the fight against terrorism in the past several years in Iraq and Syria.

Iranian officials, including the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, vowed to take revenge on the U.S. for its terrorist act.

MJ/PA