A video apparently showing a simulated attack by Iranian forces against a US military base has appeared on YouTube. The video emerged a day before the first anniversary of the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force.
The 139-second computer-generated footage, dubbed "The Great Revenge", starts with what looks like a spate of missiles heading toward a base in an unknown area.
Several birds of prey are also seen attacking US servicemen as smoke billows from various parts of the base. The clip ends with what looks like President Donald Trump delivering a speech in Congress as a dead American soldier is seen near a rostrum.
The video was released as the Iranian Foreign Ministry denounced Soleimani's killing as a "craven act of terror", promising in a tweet that Tehran will "not rest" until it brings the people responsible for the assassination to justice.
The Foreign Ministry further stressed the drone strike that killed the general is itself a blatant violation of international law, as well as the sovereignty of Iraq, where the attack was conducted.
By committing a craven act of terror against Gen Soleimani, the US violated int'l law & the UN Charter in a blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty.
— Iran Foreign Ministry 🇮🇷 (@IRIMFA_EN) January 1, 2021
The US' lawlessness in full show.#Iran won't rest until bringing those responsible to justice.#WillNeverForgetWillNeverForgive pic.twitter.com/nUscWM2CDo
The statement followed Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Mohammad Baqeri on Thursday reiterating that there was no "expiry date" for taking revenge on Soleimani's killers, adding that America's withdrawal from the Middle East was inevitable.
Baqeri's remarks came after Iranian officials described ballistic missile strikes on US bases in Iraq on 8 January 2020 as the "first slap" of revenge.
At the same time, the Islamic Republic stopped short of threatening a direct tit-for-tat assassination of a US military official or politician, with officials making it clear there was no one of equal stature to "compensate" for Soleimani's death.
Soleimani's Assassination
The general, along with a senior Iraqi militia commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, were killed in a US drone strike on their car at the Baghdad International Airport on 3 January 2020.
As commander of Iran's Quds Force, Soleimani was known to be involved in an array of anti-terrorism operations across the Middle East, briefly joining the US in its fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001. He also assisted the Syrian government in its fight against jihadist militias in the 2010s.
