New Stage of Confrontation against US Regional Deployment Started after General Soleimani's Assassination

"The US military men's presence in the region has paved the ground for their occupation and hegemony over our country's fate," Hassan Fazlollah was quoted as saying by the Arabic-language al-Manar news channel on Sunday.

He referred to Washington's interference in Lebanon's internal affairs, and said the US prevents Beirut from resuming ties with Syria, while the country is the source for Lebanese people to supply food stuff in conditions of economic crisis.

Fazlollah underlined that assassination of General Soleimani was a milestone which started confrontation against the US presence in the region.

General Soleimani was martyred in a targeted assassination attack by the US drones at Baghdad International Airport early on Friday morning.

The airstrike also martyred Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), or Hashad al-Shaabi. The two were martyred in an American airstrike that targeted their vehicle on the road to the airport.

Five Iranian and five Iraqi militaries were martyred by missiles fired by the US drone at Baghdad International Airport.

The attack came amid tensions that started by the US attack on PMF units that killed 28 Iraqi popular forces. A day later, Iraqi people attacked the US embassy in Baghdad.

The targeted assassination attack represents a dramatic escalation by the US toward Iran after months of tensions. The tensions take root in Trump’s decision in May 2018 to withdraw the US from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, struck under his predecessor.

On Wednesday, the IRGC Aerospace Force launched heavy ballistic missile attacks on US Ein Al-Assad airbase in Southwestern Iraq near the border with Syria and a US operated airbase in Erbil in retaliation for the assassination of General Soleimani.

Message end/