Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif attacked US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in response to Pompeo’s statement that Iraqis were celebrating the death of Iran’s General Qassem Soleimani.
Pompeo wrote on his Twitter account earlier that the Iraqis were “dancing in the street for freedom, thankful that General Soleimani is no more.” He also posted a video of people carrying Iraqi flags, running and screaming.
Iraqis — Iraqis — dancing in the street for freedom; thankful that General Soleimani is no more. pic.twitter.com/huFcae3ap4
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 3, 2020
“24 hours ago, an arrogant clown – masquerading as a diplomat – claimed people were dancing in the cities of Iraq. Today, hundreds of thousands of our proud Iraqi brothers and sisters offered him their response across their soil. End of US malign presence in West Asia has begun,” Zarif tweeted.
24 hrs ago, an arrogant clown— masquerading as a diplomat— claimed people were dancing in the cities of Iraq.
Today, hundreds of thousands of our proud Iraqi brothers and sisters offered him their response across their soil.
End of US malign presence in West Asia has begun. pic.twitter.com/eTDRyLN11c
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 4, 2020
On Saturday, thousands of Iraqi people participated in a farewell procession for the head of the Quds Force, an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US airstrike near the Baghdad airport on Friday.
The Pentagon confirmed earlier that the operation was carried out at the direction of US President Donald Trump. According to the Pentagon, the strike was defensive and aimed at protecting the US troops in Iraq and other countries.
