TEHRAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th January, 2020) The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned the Swiss charge d'affaires, representing the United States in the country, for the second time on Friday, to hand him Tehran's response to the US message over the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force, spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said on Friday.
Earlier in the day, Tehran summoned the diplomat to issue a protest over Soleimani's killing. He used the opportunity to deliver an unspecified message from the United States to Iran.
"Iran conveyed its response to US' message to the Swiss diplomat this evening," Mousavi said as quoted by Iranian Mehr news agency.
The spokesman then talked about the contents of Tehran's reaction.
"He was told that Washington's move is a blatant instance of state terrorism and the US regime is responsible for all its consequences," Mousavi added.
The tensions between the two countries escalated when the United States accused the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group of launching an attack on a US military base near the city of Kirkuk, which killed a US contractor. In retaliation, the US launched a strike against Kataib Hezbollah's forces killing about two dozen of its fighters, which, in turn, triggered Shiite protesters' attempts to storm the gates of the US embassy in Baghdad.
