US Federal prosecutors have charged two men with breaking into "multiple websites" in the United States, in order to take revenge for the killing of Gen. Qasem Soleimani.
According to the prosecutors, Behzad Mohammadzadeh, believed to be an Iranian national, and Marwan Abusrour, called a "stateless national of the Palestinian Authority", have defaced more than 1,400 websites with pro-Iranian messsages.
"The hackers victimised innocent third parties in a campaign to retaliate for the military action that killed Soleimani, a man behind countless acts of terror against Americans and others that the Iranian regime opposed", Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said in a statement on Tuesday.
Demers added that the two alleged hackers are now "fugitives from justice".
The White House justified the attack on Soleimani, claiming that he was planning numerous attacks against US personnel and infrastructure in the region and that by killing him, Washington saved a lot of lives. The Trump administration, however, has not provided any exact evidence of the alleged attack plans.
Soleimani, the commander of the al-Quds force, was praised in Iran for combating terrorist groups in the region, and supported the Palestinian factions fighting against Israel. In 2017, he said Iran was ready to support Palestinian forces in the Gaza Strip after US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Hundreds of Palestinians mourned his death in Gaza on 4 January.
