TEHRAN — President Hassan Rouhani says the enemy was harmed by its “ill-considered” move of brutally assassinating Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani last year.

“The enemy was definitely harmed by the ill-considered move of brutally assassinating [Soleimani] and it should rest assured that the people and youth of Iran and the region will continue to move on the path of resistance and independence of the region, even more resilient and hopeful,” Rouhani said on Thursday.

He made the remarks while addressing a ceremony held to inaugurate a number of national projects.

“All nations have realized that as long as the Americans are in this region, the region will never see a favorable and desirable [day], and the regional nations, God willing, will cut off the foot of these criminals and aggressors,” the president remarked.

January 3 will mark the first anniversary of the U.S. assassination of General Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s IRGC Quds Force. He was admired as West Asia’s most influential counter-terrorism commander.

He was martyred in a U.S. drone strike, directly ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump, in Baghdad during an official visit. His Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha’abi anti-terror force, was also killed along with their other companions when their convoy was hit.

“Trump committed many crimes and killed many people, but we will never forget these two cases,” Rouhani said, pointing to the assassination of General Soleimani and al-Muhandis.

The Americans should know that we will always lament their loss and the Iranian nation, along with other nations in the region, will one day avenge their assassination, he added.

A few days after the assassination and as the IRGC unleashed a barrage of missiles on January 8 at the United States’ Ain al-Assad air base in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, causing massive damage to the base.

According to top Iranian officials, the ultimate revenge for Soleimani's assassination would be to force the American troops out of the region.

Rouhani also pointed out that he personally knew General Soleimani for 40 years.  

“General Soleimani did not hesitate to carry out what he perceived as his national, religious and revolutionary duty, and this is very important,” Roouhani recalled.

MH/PA