Iran’s army chief said Sunday that Washington lacked the “courage” to initiate a conflict after US President Donald Trump threatened to hit dozens of targets inside the Islamic Republic, should Iran attack Americans in retaliation for the US strike that killed top general Qassem Soleimani.
“I doubt they have the courage to initiate” a conflict in which the Americans threatened to strike 52 targets, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi said, quoted by state news agency IRNA.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also pushed back against Trump, saying targeting “cultural sites is a WAR CRIME,” in a Twitter post.
Iran has promised “harsh revenge” for the US drone strike Friday that killed Soleimani in Iraq. Already, a series of rockets launched in Baghdad late Saturday fell inside or near the Green Zone, which houses government offices and foreign embassies, including the US Embassy.
Trump wrote on Twitter afterward that the US would target “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.”
The body of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani arrived Sunday in Iran to throngs of mourners after the US drone strike killed the commander, as US President Donald Trump threatened to hit Iran harder than ever before if Tehran retaliates to the assassination.
“Death to America,” they chanted at a mass gathering in the streets of the southwestern city of Ahvaz, where Soleimani’s remains arrived from Iraq before dawn, according to semi-official news agency ISNA.
Soleimani’s death Friday in Iraq has further heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington after months of trading attacks and threats that put the wider Middle East on edge.
In Ahvaz, an honor guard stood by early Sunday as mourners carried the flag-draped coffins of Soleimani and five other Guard members off the tarmac.
The footage showed crowds gathered in Mollavi Square with flags in green, white and red — depicting the blood of “martyrs.”
Men and women wept as they beat their chests to the sound of Shiite Muslim chants.
The general’s remains are expected to be flown to the Iranian capital for more tributes on Sunday evening.
His body is then due to be taken to the holy city of Qom for a ceremony at Masumeh shrine, ahead of a funeral in his hometown Kerman on Tuesday.
On Saturday, thousands in Baghdad mourned Soleimani and others killed in the strike before the remains were flown to Iran.
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