How the world is reacting to Iran general’s killing
Paris, France - The world reacted with alarm on Friday after top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US strike in Baghdad, with many governments appealing for restraint.
The attack was praised by US President Donald Trump’s Republicans and close ally Israel, but elsewhere there were sharp warnings it could inflame regional tensions.
Following are some of the reactions from around the world:
‘Terminated’
US President Donald Trump said Soleimani was ‘terminated’ when he was on the verge of attacking US diplomats but insisted that Washington is not seeking to topple Iran’s government.
But among Democrats, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the killing risks provoking a ‘dangerous escalation of violence’.
“President Trump just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox,” his 2020 presidential rival Joe Biden said.
‘Aggravate situation’
“This action can seriously aggravate the situation in the region,” Russian President Vladimir
Putin said, according to a Kremlin readout of a phone conversation with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
‘Cannot afford another war'
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned of the need to avoid war in the Gulf.
‘This is a moment in which leaders must exercise maximum restraint. The world cannot afford another war in the Gulf’, a spokesman for Guterres said in a statement.
‘Right’ to self-defence
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump ‘for acting swiftly, forcefully and decisively’ to eliminate the general.
‘Just as Israel has the right of self-defence, the United States has exactly the same right’.
‘Will spark a devastating war’
Iraq’s caretaker prime minister Adel Abdel Mahdi said the US strike, which also killed an Iraqi commander, would ‘spark a devastating war’.
“The assassination of an Iraqi military commander in an official post is an aggression against the country of Iraq, its state, its government and its people,” he said.
It was a ‘flagrant violation of the conditions authorising the presence of US troops’ on Iraqi soil, he added.
‘Cycle of violence’
‘The current cycle of violence in Iraq must be stopped before it spirals out of control’, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.
‘The EU calls on all the actors involved and on those partners who can have an influence to exercise maximum restraint and show responsibility in this crucial moment’.
‘Remain calm’
“China has always opposed the use of force in international relations,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.
“We urge the relevant sides, especially the United States, to remain calm and exercise restraint to avoid further escalating tensions.”
He said Iraq’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity must be respected.
‘Will not be forgotten’
The Syrian regime condemned the killing a n d heaped praise on the Iranian general.
The Syrian people ‘will not forget that he stuck by the side of the Syrian Arab army’, Syrian President
Bashar Assad said in a letter of condolences sent to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
‘Avoid aggravating situation’
Saudi Arabia cautioned against ‘anything that could aggravate the situation’ while the foreign ministers of Bahrain and Qatar also called for ‘restraint’.
‘Act with restraint’
French President Emmanuel Macron urged restraint after Soleimani’s killing.
In his telephone call with Putin, Macron said there should be no ‘new dangerous escalation of tensions’ and ‘called on all the parties to act with restraint’, the Elysee said.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said London had ‘always recognised the aggressive threat’ posed by Soleimani and his Quds Force.