Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, has said that assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani was “an illegitimate action” and “an act of aggression” in violation of international law.

In an interview with NBC News published on Saturday, he said, “Response to military action is military action. There will be harsh revenge. Where? When? How? I do not know, but definitely there will be some retaliation because it was an act of aggression by the United States and we cannot just close our eyes on what happened to a dear general of our armed forces.”

The ambassador clarified that retribution would not be aimed at American civilians. “What we have said is that this action by the U.S. government, by the U.S. administration, has its own consequences,” Ravanchi said. “They should bear the full responsibility of what will happen in the future.”

Elsewhere, he said, “The U.S. cannot claim that it is fighting terror when at the same time it is killing the champion of defeating terrorists in our region.”

He also said that although he believes the Trump administration "does not believe in dialogue," Iran and the U.S. have exchanged letters through a Swiss emissary since news of the assassination broke late Thursday.

Lieutenant General Soleimani was assassinated along with several senior members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), including its deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in the early hours of Friday, January 3, at Baghdad’s international airport. 

The Pentagon announced that U.S. President Donald Trump had ordered the attack on Soleimani.

NA/PA