A tide of mourners welcomed General Qassem Soleimani's body to Iran this Sunday before a great funeral for the man whose death in a US attack fueled the shock, anger and fears of escalating violence in the Middle East.
After the threats of the president, Donal Trump, who threatened Iran on Saturday afternoon with more attacks if Tehran carries out reprisals against the United States, the tension remains very high in particular in Iraq: this country was the theater of the deadly attack against Soleimani, where US troops and militias backed by Tehran are located.
While the duel continues, the Iraqi parliament voted in favor of a resolution calling on the government to end the foreign military presence in the country. The non-binding resolution specifically calls for an end to the effects of an agreement in which Washington sent troops to Iraq more than four years ago to assist in the fight against the Islamic State group.
Previously, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi had defined this option as the best possible for the country. E Hezbollah
The US-led international cohalition suspended training and support operations for Iraqis on this front after the facilities it uses for that purpose were targets of repeated rocket launches in the last two months, he said.
And Hasan Nasralá, the leader of the Hezbollah group in Lebanon, an ally of Iran, said that the bases, warships and US soldiers in the Middle East are now just targets in response.
"The response to the blood of Soleimaní and Al Mohandes must be the expulsion of US forces from the region," said the cleric.
Iraq summoned the US ambassador, Matther Tueller, to denounce a "violation of his sovereignty" with the bombing that killed the Iranian general, reports AFP .
Thousands of people filled the streets of the Iranian city of Ahvaz to pay their respects to Soleimani, who died in an attack with US drones in Iraq on Friday morning. It was the first stop in a great funeral procession in several cities for one of Iran's most powerful military and political figures.
On Saturday night, Trump threatened this country. "If Iran attacks any American or American assets, we have 52 Iranian targets targeted (representing the 52 American hostages that Iran took many years ago), some with a very high level of importance for Iran and Iranian culture, and those targets and Iran itself will be hit very fast and very hard. The United States doesn't want any more threats, "Trump wrote on his Twitter account.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1213593975732527112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1213593975732527112&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telemundo.com%2Fnoticias%2F2020%2F01%2F04%2Ftrump- adiverte-iran-that-has-52-objectives-in-the-sight-if-there are-reprisals-in-the-middle-of-tmna3636059
The reference to the American hostages were the 52 diplomats that Iran deprived of his liberty for 444 days in 1979.
And although he was very vague in saying that the potential objectives would have a "very high level of importance" for "the Iranian culture", the Security Council of the United Nations Organization prohibits attacking cultural heritage sites of humanity.
The tweet came after a senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, General Gholamali Abuhamzeh, was quoted by Tasnim news agency saying Friday night that Iran will punish Americans where they are within reach of the Islamic Republic, and raised the possibility of attacks against ships in the Gulf.
"The Strait of Hormuz is a vital point for the West and a large number of US destroyers and warships cross there ... Iran has identified vital American targets in the region for a long time ... some 35 American targets both in the region like in Tel Aviv are within our reach, "he said.
Later, Trump tweeted again saying that the country had just "spent two billion dollars on military equipment. We are the largest and, by far, the BEST in the world! If Iran attacks an American base, or any American, we will send some of those beautiful new teams to them ... and without hesitation! "
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1213689342272659456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1213689342272659456&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telemundo.com%2Fnoticias%2F2020%2F01%2F04%2Ftrump- adiverte-iran-that-has-52-objectives-in-the-sight-if-there are-reprisals-in-the-middle-of-tmna3636059
Situation in continuous evolution
Iran will conclude on Sunday night the fifth stage of its plan to reduce its international commitments on nuclear matters, according to Iranian Foreign Affairs spokesman Abas Musavi.
"Given the situation" created by the death of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani on Friday in Iraq, in a US attack, "some changes will be established at an important meeting tonight," Musavi said in televised statements.
Iran established in May its commitment reduction plan established in the international agreement on its nuclear program, signed in 2015, in response to the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from this pact in 2018.
On Saturday, there was' high tension in Iraq, where thousands of protesters protested the cry of "Death to the United States" and "The United States is the great Satan", in the capital Baghdad, during the funeral procession of Soleimani and those of Iraqi insurgent leaders killed in the US air strike the day before.
In the late evening, an undetermined number of projectiles struck in the vicinity of the US embassy in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, as well as an Iraqi air base also used by Washington located about 50 miles from there, according to the command. of Iraqi military joint operations to NBC News . No fatalities were reported.
Possible revenge
Iran promised to respond harshly to the attack, which raised fear of a possible total war. The president of the United States, Donald Trump, said he ordered the operation to avoid a conflict. The White House said Soleimani was preparing a series of attacks that endangered US officials and soldiers, but offered no evidence.
A US-led coalition official in Iraq said the contingent reduced its operations and reinforced "security and defensive measures" at the bases where they are staying. The person in charge spoke on condition of anonymity in compliance with the body's regulations. Washington sent 3,500 reinforcement soldiers to the region.
Soleimani was the architect of the Iranian regional militia mobilization policy in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, including in the war against the extremist Islamic State group. He is accused of attacks against US troops and allies since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
After his death, the United States ordered all its citizens to leave Iraq for fear of reprisals and closed its embassy in Baghdad, which at the beginning of the week was assaulted by Iranian-sponsored militiamen and their supporters in two days of protests before the complex.
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