Iran foreign minister Javad Zarif on Saturday evening tweeted images of thousands of Iraqi civilians mourning the death of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, commenting that the event marked the beginning of US’ malign presence in West Asia. Massive mourning processions were taken out in Baghdad as well as Tehran, the capital of Soleimani's home country.
The tweet by Iran’s top foreign diplomat, coincidentally, came at the time when at least two rocket attacks were reported on US locations in Iraq.
According to reports by multiple news sources, a rocket hit the green zone of the US embassy in Baghdad. Around the same time, it was reported that two rockets had also hit the US base in Balad, 80 kilometres north of Baghdad.
The base reportedly was hit by two rockets and has a presence of US troopers.
So far, nobody has claimed responsibility for the rocket strikes. However, multiple prominent Twitter handles blamed the attack on militant group Hezbollah.
The attacks on US locations in Iraq weren't entirely unexpected, especially after the verbal threats from Iran's top leadership following the taking out of Soleimani in US drone strike early Friday.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani warned on Saturday that the US made a "grave mistake" by killing Iran's top commander, a "mistake" for which it would pay not only today but in coming years as well.
Also watch: Shia Muslims protest in Lucknow against the killing of Qasem Soleimani
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