Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, spoke today about Iran’s retaliation for the killing of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani.

Hajizadeh first addressed a topic under debate by many analysts and Iran observers: whether Iran intended to kill American troops stationed at Ain al-Asad base in Iraq in the missile attack. “We could have targeted their lodging,” Hajizadeh said of US troops stationed at the base. “But we were not after killing individuals. We were determined to damage the war machine and their command and control center.” He claimed that the main control center at the base was destroyed in the attack.

A number of Iranian media outlets also have reported US dead and wounded, though the United States denies suffering casualties. An article for the Tasnim News Agency claims that the number of those killed and injured will soon be revealed. Hajizadeh reiterated the claim that “tens were killed and injured” but added, “We could have designed the operation such that in the first step there could have been 500 deaths.”

Hajizadeh said, “Damaging American air bases or downing their airplanes or even killing [President Donald] Trump do not have that much value. The real value of the blood of martyrs is — as the supreme leader said — the complete expulsion of America from the region.”