TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The latest on U.S.-Iran tensions in the wake of the U.S. airstrike that killed Iran’s top general (all times local):
South Africa’s ruling party has condemned the U.S. airstrike that killed Iran’s top military commander as an “act of international terrorism.”
The statement appeared in a Facebook post over the weekend and was issued by party secretary-general Ace Magashule. The ruling party is the former liberation movement African National Congress once led by Nelson Mandela.
South Africa’s foreign ministry released a more measured statement Friday supporting Iraq’s sovereignty and calling for dialogue and calm.
The ANC party statement called the “raw aggression” an attack on Iran’s sovereignty and it called for maximum restraint.
9:40 a.m.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has prayed over the caskets of the top Iranian general and others slain in a U.S. airstrike near the Baghdad airport last week.
The general’s successor, Easmail Ghaani stood near his side, as did Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and other top leaders in the Islamic Republic.
Khamenei wept at one point during the traditional Muslim prayers for the dead. The crowd and others wailed. Afterward, the crowd screamed: “Death to America!”
Earlier on Monday, the slain general’s daughter threatened U.S. military forces in the Middle East at a funeral procession for her father.
8 a.m.
An Iranian general who replaced the leader killed by a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad has vowed to take revenge as Tehran abandoned the remaining limits of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers in response to the slaying.
Esmail Ghaani’s threat comes as the blowback over the U.S. killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. Separately, Iraq’s parliament has called for the expulsion of all American troops from Iraqi soil.
