Iran is committed to avenging Qassem Soleimani: Khamenei

Al-Arabia – Iran will “never forget” the US killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday, adding that Tehran remains committed to avenging his death.

“We will never forget the martyrdom of Soleimani … We have said something about (avenging Soleimani), and we stand by that word. It will be done in its own time, in its own place, God willing,” Khamenei said.

Soleimani was killed in a US airstrike in Iraq on January 3, 2020, ordered by then President Donald Trump. He headed the Quds Force, the overseas arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Khamenei was speaking on the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran.

Supporters of former supreme leader and founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, attacked and occupied the US embassy in Tehran in November of 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

Washington severed diplomatic ties with Tehran in 1980, a few months after the seizure.

Khamenei again blamed ongoing anti-regime protests in Iran on the US, Israel and “some malicious European powers.”

Protests sparked by the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini have rocked Iran since September 16. Demonstrators have been chanting against Khamenei and calling for regime change.

Over 200 protesters have been killed and thousands have been arrested, according to rights groups.

Last month, Khamenei accused the US and Israel of masterminding the protests.