TEHRAN — Iranian Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaeili announced a CIA spy who was gathering intelligence about the IRGC Quds Force martyr General Qassem Soleimani has been sentenced to death. 

“Recently, a person named Seyed Mahmoud Mousavi-Majd, who had connections with Mossad and CIA and provided them with intelligence on security issues such as the Guards Quds Force and the location of martyr Qassem Soleimani in exchange for U.S. dollars was sentenced to death by the Revolution Court, and the verdict has been confirmed by the Supreme Court and will be implemented soon,” Esmaeili announced during a press conference on Tuesday.

On January 3, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes that killed General Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), in Baghdad’s international airport.

Soleimani was recognized internationally as a legendary commander in the war against terrorist groups, especially Daesh (ISIS).

Millions of mourners took to the streets in Iran’s southeastern city of Kerman, Soleimani’ hometown, to attend the popular general’s burial ceremony.

Addressing the mourners in Kerman, Major General Hossein Salami, chief of the IRGC, condemned the U.S. military’s “cowardly” assassination.

Prior to his burial in Kerman, millions took to the streets in Ahvaz, Mashhad, Tehran and Qom to say farewell to the martyr general. Hundreds of thousands of people also mourned the martyrdom of Soleimani in the Iraqi cities of Kadhimiya, Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf. 

In the early hours of January 8, the IRGC fired dozens of ballistic missiles at a military airbase hosting U.S. forces in Iraq as part of its promised “tough revenge” for the terrorist attack.

Subsequently, Tehran warned the United States against any act of military action, asserting that the U.S. will face the “fiercest response” if it makes the slightest move against Iran.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran starts no war, but teaches lessons to those who do.

“Don't be misled by usual warmongers, again,” Zarif warned Trump.

Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, armed forces chief of staff, also said Iran has no intention to attack U.S. forces in the region but warned if the Americans have an “ill will against our country’s security” or make the slightest move against Iran “they will face our most fierce reactions”.

MH/PA