Discussing the killing by the U.S. of Iran’s Qods Force commander, Qassem Soleimani, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif asserted that “this is an act of aggression against Iran and amounts to an armed attack against Iran, and we will respond. But we will respond proportionally not disproportionally… [and] lawfully”. “The U.S. took an act of war against Iran; it will have to be prepared for the consequences”, Zarif warned. “Then it will have to decide whether it wants to get itself into a quagmire or whether it wants to stop”. “We have nothing against the American people”, he added, “but their government is taking them into the abyss and they should take charge of their own destiny”.