Regional Stability, Security Very Important to Iran: Rouhani
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said promoting regional stability and security is very important to the Islamic Republic, describing closer cooperation among neighbors as the only way to protect the security.
In a telephone conversation with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Thursday night, Rouhani described the assassination of Martyr Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani as major crime by the US and called for its condemnation by all countries around the world, especially neighboring countries.
The Iranian president said the assassination of Lt. General Soleimani, who was the guest of the Iraqi people and government, was a great insult to Iraqi sovereignty and a major crime against the Iranian nation.
Rouhani also referred to Iran's military response to the US government's terrorist act, stressing, “If the US wants to respond to our action, it will face a very big and dangerous reaction, and I hope Americans, whose political life has always been full of mistakes, do not make another mistake.”
“I hope that at this critical juncture, all countries that favor security guide the United States toward the law and humanity by taking serious measures,” he added.
The Qatari Emir, for his part, said the Arab country is against any tensions against the Islamic Republic of Iran and said Doha would never forget the Iranian government’s position on sanctions against Qatar.
The remarks came as Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday targeted two US airbases in Iraq, including the Ain al-Assad in the western province of Anbar, in retaliation for the US assassination of the top Iranian anti-terror commander.
An informed source at the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said the IRGC’s missile attack on the US airbase of Ain al-Assad has killed at least 80 American forces.
“At least 104 targets from the positions of the Americans and their allies in the region have been identified, and if the Americans make any mistake again, those positions will be targeted,” the source warned.
The source also said that a number of American drones and helicopters and a large amount of military equipment were seriously damaged in the IRGC missile attack.
Fifteen missiles rained down on Ain al-Assad airbase, none of which were intercepted by the US army’s radar system, the source stated, adding that the accuracy and destructive power of the missiles have been so high that a number of the missiles annihilated several sensitive targets simultaneously each.
