Referring to the January 2020 killing by the U.S. of Qassem Soleimani, Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei remarked that “Iran will never forget this, and it will definitely strike a reciprocal blow to the Americans”. In related comments, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani pledged that “Iran and Iraq are avengers of these martyrs [ie, Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a senior commander of the pro-Iranian Iraqi Shiite militia] and will not rest until the perpetrators are punished. Harder revenge is on the way”.