The deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Washington had asked Tehran to respond in proportion after US killed Commander of IRGC’s Quds Force General Qassem Suleimani.
The Americans “resorted to diplomatic measures… on Friday morning”, few hours after the strike, the Guard’s Rear-Admiral Ali Fadavi said on Iranian state television Friday night.
They “even said that if you want to get revenge, get revenge in proportion to what we did”, he said, as quoted on the broadcaster’s website.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in separate television interview on Friday night that “Switzerland’s envoy transmitted a foolish message from the Americans this morning”.
The Swiss official “was summoned in the evening and received a decisive response in writing… to the Americans’ audacious letter,” Zarif added.
The Swiss foreign ministry confirmed Saturday that its charge d’affaires had handed over a letter from Washington to the Iranians when he was summoned to the foreign ministry on Friday morning.
Switzerland’s embassy in Tehran has represented US interests in the Islamic republic since ties were cut in 1980.
Fadavi, meanwhile, said the United States was not in a position “to determine” Iran’s response.
“The Americans must await severe revenge. This revenge will not be limited to Iran,” he said.
“The Resistance Front, with a vast geography, is ready to materialize this revenge,” he added.
Suleimani, Deputy Commander of Iraq’s Hashd Shaabi Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis and other Iraqi and Iranian commanders were martyred in a US strike at Baghdad international airport early on Friday. The strike was ordered by US President Donald Trump, both the Pentagon and Trump said.
Source: Agencies
