On September 19, 2020, Hossein Shariatmadari, longtime editor of the Iranian regime mouthpiece Kayhan and a close associate of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, wrote in the newspaper about the promise made by IRGC commander Hossein Salami to U.S. President Donald Trump – i.e. that the IRGC would seek vengeance if a single Iranian was harmed. Salami had also reiterated Khamenei's statement that anyone involved in the January 2020 killing of Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani would be harmed.
Also in his article, Shariatmadari emphasized that the IRGC had always kept its promises, and that because President Trump had acknowledged giving the order to kill Soleimani, it would settle accounts with him personally, either during his term in office or afterwards.
Earlier, on September 8, the IRGC had posted on its Telegram channel an image featuring IRGC commander Hossein Salami at Trump's desk in the Oval Office, with Trump seated before him chastised and humbled.
The following are the main points of Shariatmadari's September 19 article in Kayhan, and of his statements promising personal vengeance against Trump for Soleimani's killing.
Also below is the image shared by the IRGC Telegram channel showing Salami and Trump in the Oval Office.
Kayhan Editor Shariatmadari: "The IRGC Will Never Relinquish [Personal Vengeance For] The Blood Of The Martyr Soleimani"
"...Several days ago, Donald Trump said: 'Any attack, in any form, against the United States will be met with an attack on Iran that will be 1,000 times greater!' Yesterday, IRGC commander Salami responded to the U.S.'s vile President: 'You threaten us with an attack 1,000 times greater; we know you. When we struck 'Ain Al-Assad [airbase], we assumed you would retaliate, and prepared hundreds of rockets that could have destroyed your assets had you attacked [us].' [Salami] cautioned that 'we have our eyes on the enemy everywhere, and within range of our bullets if needed. Mr. Trump, if even a single hair falls from the head of an Iranian, we will destroy yours, scattering it in every direction. This is a serious threat and we will prove this with action.'
"IRGC Commander Salami continued his statements by highlighting the formula laid out by Iran's Supreme Leader [Khamenei]: 'You think we will attack the [U.S.] Ambassador to South Africa as retribution for the blood of our martyred brother [Soleimani]? We target those who were directly and indirectly involved in the killing of this great man, and you should know that anyone who was involved in this incident will be targeted, and that this is a serious message.'
"Now the question is: Has the IRGC ever issued a threat or warning and failed to follow through [with it]? If you cannot find an example of this – and indeed, such an example does not exist – Mr. Trump, the assassin of our martyred commander, Haj Qassem Soleimani, can be certain that for the rest of his filthy, disgraceful life, one of the IRGC's main goals will be to try and avenge the assassination of the commander of our hearts [Soleimani], whether he is in office or not! He has acknowledged that he is the murderer of the commander and martyr, and he knows that the IRGC will never relinquish [personal vengeance for] the blood of the martyr Soleimani." [1]
IRGC Shows IRGC Commander Salami At Trump's Desk In The Oval Office
On September 8, on its Telegram channel, the IRGC published an image showing IRGC commander Hossein Salami seated at President Trump's desk in the Oval Office, with Trump sitting before him chastised and humiliated. On the wall are portraits of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and Foreign Minister Zarif and his deputy Abbas Araghchi are shown standing and observing from the side, with two Iranian and one U.S. flag behind them and U.S. officials standing farther away. At the bottom is a quote by Khomeini: "I say this with confidence: Islam will ground the superpowers humiliatingly." Below the image, the IRGC wrote: "An interesting image disseminated by social media users."[2]
