TEHRAN– Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has released a statement on the US assassination of IRGC Quds Force Commander Major General Qassem Soleimani.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has released a statement on the US assassination of IRGC Quds Force Commander Major General Ghassem Soleimani.

"Among the believers are men true to what they promised Allah. Among them is he who has fulfilled his vow [to the death], and among them is he who awaits [his chance]. And they did not alter [the terms of their commitment] by any alteration," reads the statement as reported by the Foreign Ministry website. 

He expressed disgust at and strongly condemned the American forces’ terrorist and criminal move to martyr the honored commander of the army of Islam, IRGC Quds Force Commander Major General Qassem Soleimani.

FM Zarif also offered condolences and congratulations to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the country’s Armed Forces especially the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), the great nation of Iran and his dignified family as well as the Islamic resistance forces over the great tragedy.

“The malice and stupidity of American terrorist forces who assassinated General Soleimani, a hero martyr and a commander of the fight against terrorism and extremism, will undoubtedly further strengthen the tree of resistance in the region and the world,” Zarif said in the statement.

“The Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran will tap into all its political, legal, and international capacities to implement the decisions made by the Supreme National Security Council in order to hold the criminal and terrorist regime of the US accountable for this blatant crime,” he added.

Gen. Ghassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, was martyred in an airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport Friday, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) confirmed.

Issuing a statement IRGC announced that the Iranian commander was martyred in a US airstrike early morning today.

The strike also martyred Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMU) and some of the other forces of the PMU along with their guests.