Iran's Qaani Vows Revenge for Soleimani's Killing

Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani speaks at a conference in Tehran on Tuesday. (Tasnim)
Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani speaks at a conference in Tehran on Tuesday. (Tasnim)
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Iran's Qaani Vows Revenge for Soleimani's Killing

Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani speaks at a conference in Tehran on Tuesday. (Tasnim)
Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani speaks at a conference in Tehran on Tuesday. (Tasnim)

Commander of Iran’s Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, has threatened the US of staging “fundamental” revenge in the cleric-led country’s own “style” to avenge the death of his predecessor, Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike ordered by former President Donald Trump.

Qaani’s remarks were made at an event organized by the Quds Force, the foreign arm of the Revolutionary Guard. Held on Tuesday, the event marked the anniversary of the deaths of Quds Force members in Syria and Iraq under the slogan “Soleimani’s Comrades.”

The ceremony overlaps with Iran commemorating the second anniversary of Soleimani’s killing near Baghdad airport in January 2020.

“There will be fundamental revenge. We are not criminals, but we have our own style,” said Qaani in his address to the attendees.

“The enemy thinks the deed is done,” he added, revealing that Mike Pompeo, the former United States secretary of state, was the “most abhorred individual by Soleimani.”

“They thought that their contempt would end... Do you think that you would strike and it’s over?... The nation and the free people of the world will take revenge on you in a way that you will never forget,” threatened Qaani.

He referred to the decline of the US forces in Iraq from 150,000 to 2,500, and said: “Your departure from the region was one of the goals, but more than the American exit ... You were expelled.”

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has said Trump must face justice for his role in Soleimani's killing, or else Iran will have revenge.

Raisi called for the formation of a “fair court” in which Trump, Pompeo and other American officials are sentenced and punished.



Iran Says it Would Resume Nuclear Talks with US if Guaranteed No Further Attacks

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Iran Says it Would Resume Nuclear Talks with US if Guaranteed No Further Attacks

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Iran’s foreign minister said Saturday that his country would accept a resumption of nuclear talks with the US if there were assurances of no more attacks against it, state media reported.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a speech to Tehran-based foreign diplomats that Iran has always been ready and will be ready in the future for talks about its nuclear program, but, “assurance should be provided that in case of a resumption of talks, the trend will not lead to war.”

Referring to the 12-day Israeli bombardment of Iran's nuclear and military sites, and the US strike on June 22, Araghchi said that if the US and others wish to resume talks with Iran, "first of all, there should be a firm guarantee that such actions will not be repeated. The attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution based on negotiations.”

Following the strikes, Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, which led to the departure of inspectors.

Araghchi said that under Iranian law, the country will answer the agency’s request for cooperation "case by case,” based on Iran’s interests. He also said any inspection by the agency should be done based on Iran's “security” concerns as well as the safety of the inspectors. “The risk of proliferation of radioactive ingredients and an explosion of ammunition that remains from the war in the attacked nuclear sites is serious,” he said.

"The risk of spreading radioactive materials and the risk of exploding leftover munitions ... are serious," he added.

"For us, IAEA inspectors approaching nuclear sites has both a security aspect ... and the safety of the inspectors themselves is a matter that must be examined."

He also reiterated Iran's position on the need to continue enriching uranium on its soil. US President Donald Trump has insisted that cannot happen.

Israel claims it acted because Tehran was within reach of a nuclear weapon. US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an interview published Monday said the US airstrikes so badly damaged his country’s nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction.