He made the remarks on Wed. in his visit to the Iraqi Embassy to Iran on the occasion of opening a memorial book for martyrs of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Unit (PMU), known as Hash al-Sha’abi, who were assassinated by US terrorist forces on Friday.
“I express my deepest condolences to the people of Iraq. Today, we witnessed that US committed a heinous crime in the assassination of IRGC Quds Force Commander Gen. Soleimani and PMU’s Deputy Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and [meanwhile] guaranteed the solidarity, unity, and amity of two great nations of Iran and Iraq forever.”
Zarif said that the Islamic Revolution Leader stressed the need for ending the "US corrupting presence" in the Middle East region, adding, “so, this will be very good news for the region and the next generation, because the presence of US in the region had nothing but mischief and wickedness.”
He once again emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran attacked a US base in Iraq where US terrorist forces had started the operation of assassinating IRGC Quds Force Commander Gen. Soleimani, PMU’s Deputy Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
As the Iraqi government has announced, Iran had previously informed Iraqi armed forces and government of the attack, he said, adding, “The Islamic Republic of Iran attaches great importance to Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
MNA/4820695