JAKARTA - The death of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani at the hands of US troops has triggered a new polemic. Not a few netizens called the military operation launched on the orders of US President Donald Trump as the beginning of World War 3.
As is known, General Soleimani was killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport on Friday morning local time, the attack was carried out on the orders of President Trump. But President Trump argued that action was taken to stop a war, not start a war.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei could not hide his anger. Ayatollah Khamenei said "severe revenge awaits the criminals" behind the US attack. Soleimani's death would double the "resistance" to the US and Israel, he added.
Thousands of Iranians gathered for their hero's death. The mourners held a photo of Soleimani and raised the Iranian flag. Anger was often shown, their cries of "America die" were shouting, President Trump's aim to stop the war backfired for him.
Previously, the Iraqi people also mourned the death of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi who led the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah group who was killed along with Soleimani.
Responding to Iran's statement, President Trump as usual gave a statement via his official Twitter account. Trump wrote on Twitter that Iran was "speaking very boldly about targeting the US" in response to General Soleimani's death.
Trump also threatened to destroy 52 of the most important sites if Iran carried out retaliatory attacks. Trump also hinted that the US would attack Iranian cultural sites, pointing out that the US target list against Iran is much broader than just attacking military or economic groups.
"(The US) targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing 52 US citizens who were held hostage by Iran years ago), some of which are of a very high level and are important to Iran and Iranian culture, and those targets and Iran itself, WILL VERY FAST AND VERY LOUD ATTACK. The US wants no more threats! " Trump said via his Twitter account.
.... targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2020
Quoted from the BBC, Sunday, January 5, 2020, Shortly after Trump's tweet, a US government website appeared to have been hacked by a group calling its group "Iran Cyber Security Group Hackers".
"This is a message from the Islamic Republic of Iran. We will not stop supporting our friends in the region: the oppressed Palestinian people, the oppressed Yemenis, the Syrian people and government, the Iraqi people and government, the oppressed Bahraini people, the true mujahidin resistance. in Lebanon and Palestine, (they) we will always support, "
The webpage was hacked with an image of President Trump, which depicts him being hit in the face and bleeding from the mouth. "This is only a fraction of Iran's cyber capabilities!" wrote the hacker.
For your information, General Qasem Soleimani is seen as the second most powerful figure in Iran, under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The 62-year-old spearheaded Iran's Middle East operations as head of the Quds Force and was hailed as a heroic national figure. But the US branded Soleimani and the Quds Force as terrorists, holding them responsible for the deaths of hundreds of US personnel.
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