In 2019, Supreme Leader Had Wished 'Martyrdom' for Soleimani: Iran Media's Reaction to US Air Strike

New Delhi: In prominent English newspapers published in Iran, the front page of Tehran Times ran the hashtag 'Hard Revenge', in which the Supreme Leader vows revenge General Qasem Soleimani's 'martyrdom'.

The news columns called the US armed forces 'terrorists' and the leadership of America 'stupid', while writing about the 'martyrdom' of the man who single-handedly took on the 'gangsters of the world from Washington to Tel Aviv' valiantly.

It has reported that at 1:20 am several US helicopters attacked two Poplar Mobilization Units vehicles near an airport in Iraq that led to the martyrdom of Commander Qassem Soleimani, Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes and nine of PMU forces.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei released a message on Friday expressing his deepest condolences over the martyrdom of Commander. In the message he said, "Iran will take tough revenge on the criminals who killed the top Iranian general."

US Terrorists Forces and Gangsters

The front page stories by the journalists have said, "US terrorist forces claimed the responsibility of the strike, increasing their flights over Baghdad's sky hours earlier, seizing its air space and violating the Iraqi sovereignty. The American terrorists, who have the blood of millions of people in the world on their hands, assassinated General Soleimani, in the hope of getting rid of their nightmares," said a report in The Tehran Times by editor-in-chief Mohammad Ghaderi.

It went on to say, "The stupid American leaders assumed that they can defeat the axis of resistance by assassinating General Soleimani. They martyred a commander, who was a sincere soldier in the God's path and loved by the oppressed people all around the world, and further stained their history, ignoring the fact that the "culture and ideology of resistance" cannot be assassinated.

Another journalist Syed Zafar Mehdi said that they always took pride in writing about this revolutionary warrior of Islam, "who single-handedly took on the 'gangsters' of the world from Washington to Tel Aviv, and valiantly led the fight against the ISIS in Syria and Iraq. But I never imagined writing an obituary for him. Life can be a tough taskmaster."

The media has highlighted on rallies of Iranians, angry over the assassination of IRGC Quds Force Chief Major General Qassem Soleimani urging revenge for his death. "General Soleimani was martyred in a US air strike on Baghdad's international airport on Friday morning. The Pentagon announced that President Trump had ordered the attack on Soleimani. The angry marchers shouted 'death to America', strongly condemning the state terrorist."

President Hassan Rouhani said that Iran and other independent countries in the region will "undoubtedly" take revenge on the "criminal" US for assassinating General Soleimani, commander of the IRGC Quds Force. The Opinion on Iran Daily has called US President Donald Trump's move as "illegal".

"Illegal move to launch an aerial assault against top Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani and a number of other military officials in Iraq has been described by Iran as an instance of America's state terrorism."

The act that also violated Iraqi sovereignty has drawn angry reactions online in its condemnation and risky repercussions. In the same article in Iran Online it says, "Hawks are celebrating Soleimani's assassination not because they believe it weakened Iran. But because they believe we have passed an irreversible point of escalation."

Culture Cannot be Assassinated

Mohammad Ghaderi editor-in-chief of Tehran Times writes that "Soleimani was a culture and culture cannot be assassinated". He said, "They should know that Soleimani was not a person, rather a culture based on resistance, defending the oppressed, and roughly confronting international terrorism."

He concluded by saying, "The horrific assassination of commander Soleimani by the US is a clear sign of the decline and collapse of the flimsy world power and will trigger new moves, so that the enemies' nightmare has aggravated due to the fear of "harsh revenge".

Another story on the front page of Tehran Times by Syed Zafar Mehdi recalls the that last year the country's highest honour, the Supreme Leader Sayed Ali Khamenei wished martyrdom for his "brave soldier", General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force. “On the blessed night of Friday, the wish came true and the 'living martyr' bade us adieu."