TEHRAN — Chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee has condemned the United Sates for assassinating Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, saying Iran will give a crushing response in due time but it won’t start a war.

The Islamic Republic reserves the right to respond to the U.S. terrorist regime’s criminal act and will give a decisive response in due time, Tasnim quoted Mojtaba Zonnour as saying.

He stressed that Iran does not act emotionally in response to the American crime, adding “Certainly, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s action will be judicious and decisive ... and in a manner that will have the most benefits for the Iranian nation and the most damages to our enemies.”

“Our goal is purely (to take) revenge and we do not intend to wage war,” he said, adding that Iran has never waged any war as it has no interest in war.

General Soleimani, the deputy head of Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha'abi, and a number of their entourage were killed in an airstrike by American drones near the Baghdad International Airport in the early hours of Friday.

The White House and the Pentagon claimed responsibility for the assassination of General Soleimani, saying the attack was carried out at the direction of U.S. President Donald Trump.

In a message on Friday, President Hassan Rouhani said Soleimani’s assassination will “double the determination of the great Iranian nation and other independent states to stand against America’s excessive demands and to defend the Islamic values.”

“This cowardly act is, of course, another sign of America's frustration and helplessness in the region,” he added.

General 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, have vowed that Iran will take revenge on the U.S. terrorist act.

MH/PA