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.
Later in the day, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif explained why the Swiss diplomat was summoned twice.�
"[The Swiss embassy] brought a foolish message from the US. In the second half of the day they got a decisive response. We summoned the Swiss charge d'affaires twice today. In the morning, to express our protest over the US' actions and inform [him] of the US' responsibility for the consequences. The second time was to hand him a hard copy of our appropriate and rough response," Zarif said in a broadcast by IRIB TV1.
He added that Tehran had already begun working out its legal steps for triggering international measures relevant to the situation, while reserving the right to reply anytime and in any way it finds necessary.
The assassination of Soleimani has exacerbated already-high tensions between Iran and the United States. Last week, the United States accused the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group of launching an attack on a US military base near the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, which killed a US contractor on December 27. In retaliation, the US launched a strike against Kataib Hezbollah's forces on Sunday killing about two dozen of its fighters, which, in turn, triggered Shiite protesters' attempts to storm the gates of the US embassy in Baghdad.
