TEHRAN – Iran will continue to work tirelessly to bring those involved in the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani to justice, the spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry has said. 

In a tweet on Monday, Saeed Khatibzadeh described the assassination of General Soleimani as a cowardly act that made him an eternal hero for generations to come. 

“The US cowardly assassinated Gen Soleimani, but his name shines brighter than ever as eternal #Hero inspiring generations to come,” he said.

He added, “Iran won't rest until culprits are brought to justice. And his mission to end nefarious US presence continues as our region's more awake than ever.”

Earlier, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that the United States has committed a serious violation of the right to life by assassinating Iran’s top general.

“With the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, the US committed a serious violation of the right to life and the principle of non-use of force,” the ministry said on Twitter as Iran commemorated the second anniversary of the assassination of the top general. 

The ministry added that all those involved in the assassination of the Iranian general bear “criminal responsibility.”

“All perpetrators and orchestrators of this crime have ‘criminal responsibility’,” it added. 

It also said that the assassination reinvigorated the resistance front. “The disgraceful assassination of Qassem Soleimani activated the resistance front, and forced the US to flee from Afghanistan & Iraq: A déjà vu of the US escape from Vietnam. This situation is nothing short of the strategic disarray of the US,” the Foreign Ministry tweeted.
On Monday, several commemoration ceremonies were held to mark the second anniversary of the assassination of General Soleimani. In one of these ceremonies, President Ayatollah Seyed Ebrahim Raisi showered the slain general with praise. 

'A man of love for God and sincerity'

Speaking at the ceremony held at the prayer hall of Tehran, Ayatollah Raisi described General Soleimani as a “culture” and a “school of thought”. 

He said, “If a person's existential personality develops, he is no longer just a real person, but has an existential development, which is referred to as a nation and an ummah.” 

He added, “By following the verses of the Quran and the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt, Martyr Soleimani has acquired an existential scope; he is not a person, he is a school, and this school is not destroyed by terror or missiles. The school stays, the school survives.”

The president noted, “The path and school of Haj Qassem Soleimani is along the school of Imam Khomeini and Imam Khamenei. He was a man of truth; he was a man of love for God and sincerity.”

Ayatollah Raisi emphasized, “Haj Qassem deeply believed that the United States cannot do a damn thing against us. He deeply believed that excuses such as ‘it is not possible’, ‘can we?’, ‘there are obstacles’ and ‘we must somehow compromise’ were not in Haj Qassem's logic.”

The president said, “Martyr Soleimani acted as a school and a lofty ideal, he was a commander, he was a general, he was a military figure, but he should not be seen only as a high-ranking military figure, he had a culture.”

Emphasizing that Haj Qassem sought to solve the problems of the people and the families of the martyrs, Ayatollah Raisi said, “Martyr Soleimani was a powerful diplomat and a field diplomat who excelled in both fields.”

'Powerful diplomat and a field diplomat'

Ayatollah Raisi stated, “Martyr Soleimani was a great commander and strategist who did not create a dichotomy between the field and diplomacy; He was a powerful diplomat and a field diplomat who excelled in both fields.”

“He was a revolutionary commander and a supra-factional commander whose task was to save Islam and Muslims, to ward off evil, corruption and oppression,” he said, according to the official website of the Iranian presidency.

The president continued, “Martyr Soleimani's goal was to defend Sunni, Shiite, Palestinian, Lebanese, Yemeni, Yezidi, Christian and all religious people in the Abrahamic religions, so his vision was how to remove the enemy from the region and how to liberate the region.”

Ayatollah Raisi said, “The enemy was worried about the Hezbollah front in Lebanon, but several Hezbollah factions were created and became the Hezbollah and Resistance Front in the region, and the international resistance movement.”

“This is the recognition of capacities; Capacities must be recognized in a timely manner and used in the face of an arrogant current with courage, bravery, motivation and readiness,” said Raisi.

The president advised the youth that Martyr Soleimani was an impasse-breaker and that you, the young, should not be disappointed until an obstacle stands in your way, adding, “He did not recognize any obstacle in front of him, he overcame all obstacles by relying on God and with confidence.”

Addressing the Americans, the president said, “Haj Qassem Soleimani was the official guest of the Iraqi Prime Minister. You both broke the sovereignty of Iraq and assassinated a nation, not a single person.”

“What should be done in this horrible crime that was very hard and expensive for the whole Islamic Ummah? The aggressor and murderer and the main criminal, who is the then President of the United States must be brought to justice, retribution must be carried out,” he said.

The president stressed, “If the mechanism for a fair trial of Mr. Trump, Pompeo and other criminals is provided, they will be punished for their shameful acts in a fair trial for committing this horrific crime. If not, I tell all American statesmen that do not doubt that revenge will come.”