TEHRAN -- President Ebrahim Raisi said Monday the former commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)’s Quds Force created a huge capacity in the Muslim world by training Iraqi and Syrian forces.
Raisi made the remarks in a meeting with members of a special headquarters set up to mark the martyrdom anniversary of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in a drone attack ordered by former U.S. President Donald Trump outside Baghdad airport in January 2020.
“Haj Qassem managed to train very good forces among Iraqis and Syrians to defend those countries and fight oppression, and in doing so, he created a huge capacity in the Islamic world,” the president said.
He pointed to remarks by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei who noted that General Soleimani should be viewed as a school of thought, saying, “The fact is that Haj Qassem was not a single person but a school of thought, who sent a message to all societies.”
Raisi stated General Soleimani first developed his own personality and then tried to help others improve theirs.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president stressed the importance of building new capacities and deploying revolutionary forces in the country.
“We need our officials, youths and people to enjoy such a capacity that would enable them to withstand threats and not backtrack in the face of those threats.”
General Soleimani was martyred along with deputy commander of Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi Mahdi al-Muhandis, another iconic figures in the fight against the Daesh terrorist group.
Days after the terrorist act, the IRGC launched a volley of missiles at a major military base housing American forces in Iraq.
Iran has denounced the assassinations as “state terrorism” and vowed to end the American presence in the region as the ultimate act of revenge, while urging neighboring Iraq to expel the U.S. forces from the country.