The Iranian government has vowed revenge against the U.S. for the death of military general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in an airstrike in Baghdad last week.
However, over the weekend, unsubstantiated claims that Iran has placed a bounty on U.S. President Donald Trump‘s head emerged.
On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of mourners accompanied the coffin carrying Soleimani’s remains in the Iranian cities of Ahvaz and Mashhad.
Wait, There’s More: The aftermath of the killing of Qassem Soleimani
According to reporting from Newsweek and the Daily Mail, at one point during the procession, an unidentified eulogist called for a bounty to be placed on Trump‘s head.
“Iran offers $80million bounty for Donald Trump’s head after death of general,” Britain’s The Daily Mirror’s headline read.
“Iran ‘puts $80,000,000 bounty on Donald Trump’s head’ after general’s killing,” The U.K’s Metro newspaper’s headline said.
It is unclear who the eulogist is or if he is in any way connected with the regime.
There has been no indication the regime has endorsed the unidentified man’s proposed bounty for Trump.
Has Iran really placed a bounty on Trump’s head? No. Here’s a look at what is actually happening:
What has Iran said?
While Iran’s leaders have vowed revenge, few details have emerged to suggest when or where any retaliation could take place.
After the airstrike, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed “harsh retaliation.”
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called Soleimani’s killing a “heinous crime,” saying Iran would “take revenge” for his death “not only today but also in the coming years.”
The country’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, called the airstrike in Baghdad a “cowardly terrorist action,” saying Iran has the right to respond by “any method” at “any time.”
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On Sunday, Brig.-Gen. Esmail Ghaani, who has replaced Soleimani as leader of the Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, told Iranian state television that “actions will be taken.”
“God the almighty has promised to get his revenge,” he said. “And God is the main avenger.”
How has Iran retaliated?
In an interview with CNN, Gen. Hossein Dehghan, military adviser to Khamenei, said the response to Soleimani’s killing will “for sure be military.”
Dehghan said the country would retaliate directly against U.S. military sites and that the attack would come from Iran and not one of its allied militia.
Earlier on Sunday, Iranian state TV, citing Rouhani’s administration, said the country would no longer observe limitations on its nuclear enrichment previously agreed upon under the 2015 nuclear deal.
In Lebanon, the leader of the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah said Soleimani’s killing made U.S. military bases, warships and service members across the region fair game for attacks.
Meanwhile, in Iraq, lawmakers passed a non-binding motion that would see the removal of all foreign troops from the region. Currently, more than 5,000 American troops are on the ground in the region.
What has Trump said?
In a tweet on Saturday, Trump said Iran was “talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets.”
Trump said the U.S. has targeted 52 Iranian sites, some of which are “at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD.”
Trump said the 52 targets represented 52 Americans held hostage in Iran in 1979 after they were seized at the U.S. Embassy during the Islamic Revolution.
He continued, saying that if Iran launches an attack, the U.S. “will hit them harder than they have ever been hit before!”
On Sunday, Trump boasted about the capability of the U.S. military.
“We are the biggest and by far the BEST in the World!” he wrote. “If Iran attacks an American Base, or any American, we will be sending some of that brand new beautiful equipment their way…. and without hesitation!”
— With files from the Associated Press and Reuters
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