Quds Force commander for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Brig. Gen. Esmail Ghaani, who replaced the assassinated Qasem Soleimani, has vowed revenge for his killing.

Speaking at an event commemorating the two-year anniversary of Soleimani's assassination on Jan. 3, 2020, by a US drone strike ordered by former President Donald Trump, Ghaani said, “We will get revenge that you will not forget for the rest of your life.” Talking about Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who advocated for the strike behind the scenes, Ghaani said, “All of the criminals who are on the scene, from the criminal US president to all of those behind the crime of the assassination of Soleimani, are under our magnifying glass.” 

Ghaani added, “We do not have the style of [US] criminals, with divine power; we have our own style of revenge.”

Ghaani said that one of Iran’s and Soleimani’s goals was the removal of US troops from the region, which is currently happening. He said that US troop presence at one point was 150,000 — he didn’t specify when — but that today, according to US numbers, it is 2,500. He added, “But the honorable people of Iraq and Soleimani’s friends will not even tolerate this amount.”