*Palestinians in Gaza mourn Soleimani
*As France meets Germany, Chine over tensions by Trump
* Qatari FM meets Iranian counterpart
* NATO suspends training missions in Iraq
A senior Revolutionary Guards Commander in the Islamic Republic Iran has said that the country will punish “Americans” wherever they are within the reach of the republic.
The commander, quoted by Tasnim News Agency, said this will be done in retaliation for the killing of Major General Qossem Soleimani, who was killed pre-dawn of Friday by United States military raids on order of President Donald Trump.
General Gholamali Abuhamzeh, the commander of the Guards in the southern province of Kerman, raised the prospect of possible attacks on ships in the Gulf, and said Iran reserved the right to take revenge against the US for the death of Soleimani.
“The Strait of Hormuz is a vital point for the West and a large number of American destroyers and warships cross there … vital American targets in the region have been identified by Iran since long time ago,” Abuhamzeh was quoted as saying.
“Some 35 US targets in the region as well as Tel Aviv are within our reach,” he said.
China, a permanent member of the UNSC, is a key partner of Tehran and a major buyer of Iranian oil [File: Jason Lee/Reuters]
“The dangerous US military operation violates the basic norms of international relations and will aggravate regional tensions and turbulence,” Wang told Mohammad Javad Zarif according to a statement by China’s foreign ministry.
“China opposes the use of force in international relations. There is no way out for military means, nor for extreme pressure,” the ministry quoted Wang as saying.
Hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza mourned Soleimani’s death, erecting a tent in his honour in the heart of Gaza City.
Leaders of Hamas, which rules Gaza, and the Islamic Jihad – both backed by Iran – joined mourners at the tent, where US and Israeli flags were laid on the ground for visitors to tread on as they entered. The flags were later set on fire.
“We are loyal to those who stood with the resistance and withPalestine and we hold the US administration and the Zionist occupation fully responsible for the consequences of this deplorable crime,” Ismail Radwan, a Hamas official, said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement that he had discussed the situation in the Middle East with his Germanand Chinese counterparts.
He added that all three had agreed on the need to avoid any escalation in the tensions.
“We have all noted in particular our agreement in the importance of preserving the stability and sovereignty of Iraq, and the whole of the region in general, as well as the need for Iran to avoid any new violation of the Vienna Agreement,” he said, following a telephone call with Germany’s Heiko Maas and China’s Wang Yi.
Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran, state-run Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
The two officials discussed the latest developments in the region, “especially the events in Iraq as well as ways of calm to maintain collective security of the region,” QNA said.
NATO has suspended training missions in Iraq, a spokesman for the alliance said, following the US killing of Soleimani.
“NATO’s mission is continuing, but training activities are currently suspended,” said the spokesman, Dylan White.
He also confirmed that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had spoken by telephone with US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper “following recent developments”.
The NATO mission in Iraq, which numbers in the hundreds, trains the country’s security forces at the request of Baghdad to prevent the return of ISIL.
