‘Honorable revenge’: Iran vows hit on all involved in US killing of Soleimani

Dismissing report of threat to US ambassador to South Africa, Gen. Hossein Salami says those with ‘direct and indirect roles’ will be targeted to avenge commander’s death

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards commander Major General Hossein Salami speaks during a pro-government rally in the capital Tehran's central Enghelab Square on November 25, 2019. (Atta Kenare/AFP)
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards commander Major General Hossein Salami speaks during a pro-government rally in the capital Tehran's central Enghelab Square on November 25, 2019. (Atta Kenare/AFP)

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards chief said Saturday that Tehran will avenge the US killing of its top commander General Qasem Soleimani by targeting only those involved, in an “honorable” retaliation.

The guard’s website quoted Gen. Hossein Salami as saying, “Mr. Trump! Our revenge for martyrdom of our great general is obvious, serious and real.”

The powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is designated a terrorist organization by the US.

US President Donald Trump warned this week that Washington would harshly respond to any Iranian attempts to take revenge for the death of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, tweeting that “if they hit us in any way, any form, written instructions already done we’re going to hit them 1000 times harder.”

US President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, September 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The president’s warning came in response to a report that Iran was plotting to assassinate the US ambassador to South Africa in retaliation for Soleimani’s killing at Baghdad’s airport at the beginning of the year.

“We took out the world’s number one terrorist and the mass murderer of American troops and many, many troops and many people all over the world,” Trump said. “Qasem Soleimani is dead. He’s dead. Bad guy. Bad guy. Very bad guy.”

Salami rejected the report of an Iranian plot to assassinate Ambassador Lana Marks, but made clear that Iran intends to avenge the general’s death.

“Do you think we hit a female ambassador in return to our martyred brother?’ the general said. “We will hit those who had direct and indirect roles. You should know that everybody who had role in the event will be hit, and this is a serious message. We do prove everything in practice.”

In January, Iran launched a ballistic missile attack targeting US soldiers in Iraq in response to the fatal drone strike.

In this Sept. 18, 2016 file photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, center, attends a meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Revolutionary Guard commanders in Tehran, Iran. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

The Politico news site report on Sunday, citing US intelligence reports seen by a US government official and another official familiar with the documents, said that Marks was likely chosen as a possible target by Iran due to her closeness to Trump.

Marks, 66, a Palm Beach, Florida-based luxury fashion and handbag designer, is a longtime friend of the US president and was a member of Trump’s exclusive Mar-a-Lago club in Florida before she was appointed ambassador in 2018.

In this 2012 file photo, Lana Marks and her husband, Dr. Neville Marks, are shown at the 2012 Mental Health Association of Palm Beach County, Inc. Bell Society Dinner at The Colony Hotel in Palm Beach, Fla. (Meghan McCarthy/Palm Beach Post via AP)

Marks was born and raised in South Africa and was CEO of the Lana Marks Collections design firm, which caters to celebrities. Born Lana Banks, she grew up in the city of Port Elizabeth, where here family were prominent members of the city’s Jewish community.

Trump has stepped up economic pressure on Iran with sanctions since he pulled the United States out of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018.

Tehran has continued to expand its stockpile of enriched uranium and pressured other nations to offset the harm of US sanctions, while insisting it does not want to develop a nuclear weapon.

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