On 21 April, the naval force commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri, revealed that Washington repeatedly requested that Tehran abandon plans to retaliate against the US for the assassination of the late Al-Quds Force commander, Qassem Soleimani.

“They constantly send messages saying they will offer rewards and remove certain sanctions if we give up seeking revenge for Soleimani,” the IRGC admiral said. “But this is wishful thinking. The leader of the Islamic Revolution insists on taking revenge, and the IRGC commander has said that revenge is inevitable.”

Tangsiri went on to say that revenge for the assassination depends on timing.

Former president Donald Trump ordered the assassination of Major General Soleimani along with the Deputy Commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandes, on 3 January, 2020, killing the two in a drone strike outside Baghdad International Airport.

After the attack, Iraqi lawmakers approved a bill demanding the expulsion of all foreign occupation forces from the country.

“Perpetrators, officials, accomplices and advisers in this cowardly act will not go unpunished … these people must be brought to justice,” Tangsiri said.

Last September, a senior security official of the Resistance Axis told The Cradle that the Axis was responsible for the deaths of a US and Israeli commander in retaliation for the assassinations of the generals.

This was the first time the Resistance Axis had claimed responsibility for retaliatory measures against those behind the assassination.

The Iranian-led operation in Erbil killed two high-ranking officials: Lt. Col. James C. Willis of the Red Horse Unit and Col. Sharon Asman of the Israeli Nahal Brigade.

However, the Pentagon has claimed Willis died in a non-combat incident in Qatar’s Al-Udied base, while Tel Aviv says Asman died of heart failure.