TEHRAN - Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), said on Saturday that assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani was the United States’ gift to Takfiri terrorists and their supporters.

Speaking at a meeting of the secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council, Shamkhani said that Soleimani’s important role in fighting terrorism was the reason behind the U.S. hatred towards him.

The top security official noted that the world should praise Soleimani’s endeavor in fighting terrorism.

On January 3, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes that martyred 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).

Tehran Prosecutor General Ali Alqasi-Mehr announced on June 29 that 36 individuals, including Donald Trump, have been identified in connection with the assassination and Interpol has been notified to arrest them.

“36 individuals who cooperated, collaborated, and participated in the assassination of Hajj Qassem, including political and military authorities of the U.S. and other countries, have been identified,” he stated.

The prosecutor general explained that Trump is at the top of the list, and he’ll be facing prosecution even after his term as president.

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 U.S. terrorist attack.

NA/PA