Boris Johnson says Iranian general Qasem Soleimani killed thousands of innocents and ‘we will not lament his death’
BORIS Johnson said Britain "will not lament the death" of Qasem Soleimani - as he flew back from holiday with the Middle East on the brink of war.
The Prime Minister broke his silence on the US drone strike on the second most powerful man in Iran, who he said slaughtered thousands of innocents.
Boris, who jetted back from holiday in the Caribbean with girlfriend Carrie Symonds, also called for calm from all sides.
He said in a statement: "Today I have spoken with President Macron, President Trump and Chancellor Merkel, and will be speaking with other leaders in the coming days.
"General Qassem Soleimani posed a threat to all our interests and was responsible for a pattern of disruptive, destabilising behaviour in the region.
"Given the leading role he has played in actions that have led to the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians and western personnel, we will not lament his death.
"It is clear however that all calls for retaliation or reprisals will simply lead to more violence in the region and they are in no-one's interest.
"We are in close contact with all sides to encourage de-escalation.
"I will be speaking to other leaders and our Iraqi friends to support peace and stability."
MPs are due to meet tomorrow to discuss the spiralling crisis and the Foreign Office will update Parliament on Tuesday.
Last night a senior Iranian army commander threatened to kill British soldiers for siding with the US.
He told The Times their forces would have no “concern about killing its allies, including UK troops”.
General Soleimani - head of the feared Quds force - was taken out by Pentagon drones on Friday morning near the Iraqi capital Baghdad's international airport.
It is understood Boris had no warning from Trump about the airstrike despite significant UK interests and 1,400 military personnel in Iraq and Syria.
He now faces the biggest test of his diplomacy in his premiership so far amid serious concerns the execution could cause the outbreak of World War Three.
And it appears Boris has flown back into a political storm over why he didn't cut short his stay at a £20,000-a-week villa to deal with the crisis.
Labour’s shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry fumed: “He is sunning himself drinking vodka martinis somewhere else and not paying attention to this.”
WORLD WAR THREE FEARS
Iran today threatened to attack the White House over the killing as they branded Trump a "terrorist in a suit" - with an $80million bounty on his head.
Their chilling warning was in response to the president saying he had already identified 52 Iranian sites to hit "very fast and hard" if the country launches revenge attacks.
The Foreign Office has now escalated its warnings over travel to the Middle East and Britain's navy will also now accompany UK-flagged ships through the Strait of Hormuz to provide protection.
The government has also urged Iraq to allow British soldiers to continue the fight there against ISIS after they called for the expulsion of foreign troops.
Around 400 British troops are stationed in Iraq, while the US has 5,200 - sparking fears a withdrawal could cripple the battle against the terror group.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab warned the extremists would be the only ones who benefited from a war as he defended the assassination.
But he called for “de-escalation and the stabilisation of the situation”.
Exit fears
by Col Richard Kemp, Ex-British Army commander in Iraq and Afghanistan
THE Iraqi parliament’s vote to expel American and British forces from the country is not binding on the government — and is more for show than a sober decision.
They know what happened the last time American forces departed Iraq in 2011.
The Iraqi government and armed forces lost control of the country as IS rampaged, inflicting horrific casualties.
This would happen again if the Americans left now. It would also deliver a strategic victory to the Iranian ayatollahs, dramatically increasing instability and violence across the region.
The Americans, with Britain alongside, must do everything they can to prevent this knee-jerk decision becoming reality.
'DEATH TO AMERICA'
Mourners chanting 'death to America' mobbed a funeral procession for the powerful general and other militia killed in the US airstrike, which was later branded an 'act of war' by Tehran.
It came months of tensions between the US and Iran in which Tehran shot down an American military surveillance drone and seized oil tankers.
Searches for World War Three spiked on Google within hours of the airstrike and began trending on Twitter as the news broke.
And Trump deployed 3,500 troops to the Middle East in retaliation to threats by Iran vowing to "turn day into night".
DRONE ATTACK
Iran tonight vowed to ramp up its nukes program as pulled out of its 2015 nuclear deal, according to Iranian state TV.
Their government said it will no longer abide by any restrictions on its operations put in place by the deal.
This includes its uranium enrichment capacity, percentage of enrichment, amount of enriched material and research and development.
The last known photos of Soleimani show him kissing the forehead of Hezbollah's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah during a meeting in Beirut last week.
Soleimani had landed at Baghdad Airport early Friday morning where he was met by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of the pro-Iran Popular Mobilization forces in Iraq.
As the cars passed through a cargo area for an access road leading out of the airport, the vehicle was struck by at least two missiles by a US MQ9 Reaper drone which was being controlled remotely.
At least two missiles were fired at the vehicles - killing the general and others on board.
Footage showed the moment US drones assassinated the general at Baghdad Airport.
Soleimani could only be identified by the ring on his severed hand.