'Soleimani's killer must face vengeance': Iran threatens Trump as he leaves office

The office of Iranian Supreme leader, on January 21, posted a photomontage of Donald Trump playing golf under the shadow of a warplane, insinuating a possible attack on the former US president. “Revenge is inevitable,” stated that post while reiterating Iran’s vow to avenge the January 2020 drone strike that killed country’s celebrated leader General Qasem Soleimani. The post which came a day after Trump left White House, also threatened that “revenge” could take place at any moment.

“Soleimani's killer and the man who gave the orders must face vengeance," it said.

On January 3 2020, Pentagon announced that an airstrike, ordered by the then US President Donald Trump, had led to the killing of storied foreign operations chief General Qasem Soleimani at Baghdad International airport. In its statement, the Pentagon stated, "General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region." The airstrike ordered by Trump also killed other targets including Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF.

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In the aftermath, the Islamic Republic retaliated by firing a barrage of missiles. However, the move backfired as two of the missiles shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet, killing all 176 people on board. Earlier this month,  judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi warned that not even Trump was "immune from justice" and that Soleimani's killers would "not be safe anywhere in the world".

US-Iran relations

In addendum to Soleimani's killing, Washington’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), also known as Iran nuclear deal also worsened the relations between Trump-led US and Iran.  The US-Iran relations have hit the nadir as Washington has been pushing for an extension of an arms embargo on Iran which is set to expire in October. However, UN Security Council president Indonesia rejected the US move to trigger a return of all sanctions on Iran, saying it was not in the position to take further action.

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Read: Israel PM Backs Trump Over Soleimani Killing, Says 'US Has The Right Of Self-defense'