'God willing, we will be able to kill...': Iran commander's threat to Trump & Mike Pompeo

On Friday, a high-ranking commander of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stated that Iran is aiming to assassinate senior US officials, including former President Donald Trump, for ir alleged role in killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020, reported Al Arabiya. “God willing, we will be able to kill Trump…(former US secretary of state Mike) Pompeo, (former he of US Central Command General Kenneth) McKenzie and those military commanders that gave order (to kill Soleimani) must be killed,” Amirali Hajizeh, he of IRGC’s aerospace unit, said on state TV.

Hajizeh mentioned this intention during a discussion about Iran's January 8, 2020 missile strike on Ain al-Ass air base in western Iraq. attack occurred five days after killing of Qassem Soleimani, and while American troops were stationed at base, re were no US casualties reported from attack. 

Qassem Soleimani, commander of Quds Force which is overseas branch of IRGC, was killed in an airstrike in Iraq that was ordered by former US President Donald Trump. Iranian officials have me several promises to seek revenge for death of Qassem Soleimani, as y consider attack on Ain al-Ass air base to be an inequate response.

During third anniversary of Qassem Soleimani's death last month, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi stated that retribution for Soleimani was "inevitable." In November, Khamenei stated that Iran would always remember killing of Soleimani, and reaffirmed Tehran's commitment to seeking revenge for his death.

Who was Qassem Soleimani?

Qassem Soleimani held position of commander of Quds Force, which is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He was regarded as second most influential figure in Iran, answering to Supreme Leer Ali Khamenei. 

On January 3, 2020, a US drone strike targeted and killed Soleimani, near Baghd International Airport in Iraq as he was en route to a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister il Abdul-Mahdi. Khamenei has referred to Qasem Soleimani as a "living martyr of revolution," but United States regarded him as a brutal assassin, reported CNN.

“ puppet master is de; strings have been cut,” Michael Knights, a Gulf expert at Washington Institute with years of experience working with local military and security agencies in Iraq and Persian Gulf, h told CNBC back in 2020. 

Throughout his 20-year tenure as a commander in Quds Force, foreign operations unit of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Soleimani largely operated in secrecy. However, in recent years before his death, he h gained notoriety as face of Iran's expanding influence in Middle East. He was recognized as mastermind behind Islamic Republic's vast network of proxies extending from Iraq and Lebanon to Syria, Yemen, and Afghanistan.

Soleimani's unique ability to shape Iran's foreign policy and conduct covert offensive operations, which Trump ministration labeled as "malign activities" against US regional interests and allies, me him an unmatched military and intelligence operative in region.

Soleimani's death furr escalated tensions between United States and Iran.