TEHRAN – General Mohammadreza Naghdi, the deputy coordinator of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has said the U.S. withdrawal from the region is the proper response to the assassination of IRGC Quds Force commander General Qassem Soleimani.

General Soleimani was assassinated in an American drone strike on January 3 near Baghdad’s international airport along with Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, the deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces. In response, Iran launched a missile attack on the U.S. troops at Ain Al-Assad airbase in western Iraq, inflicting brain injuries on dozens of U.S. servicemen. Following the attack, Iran put the policy of expelling the U.S. forces from the region high on its agenda.

“The response to the assassination of martyr Soleimani is for America to leave the region and it will leave. The attack on the Ain Al-Assad base was merely meant to demonstrate the determination of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respond, and America still did not receive a response. The strike on Ain Al-Assad was important. All superpowers of the world sent messages saying that we would have not dared to do this. The world understood how powerful the Islamic Republic is and how weak America is. The attack had so many implications, but it was not that tough revenge,” General Naghdi was quoted as saying by Fars news agency.

Commenting on the advisory role of Iran in countries fighting terrorism in the region, he said, “Wherever the Islamic Republic of Iran was present, it was at the request of the people or government of that country and within the required limit, not more.”

The general also said the IRGC presence in the region is based on a decision from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

“It’s not like the Guards go everywhere they wants. Rather, the Supreme National Security Council would study diplomatic, military and national security matters and aspects, and then makes the decision that the Revolution Guards would go to fulfill its responsibility to the extent required,” Naghdi pointed out.

According to the general, it’s a proper strategy to confront the enemy thousands of kilometers away from home.

“Strategically, it is right that instead of imposing an attack on you in your own country, you should go and fight the enemy two thousand kilometers away from home. As the Leader said, were it not for this presence we would have fought Daesh in Hamedan and Kermanshah.”