Khamenei vows revenge for Soleimani killing through direct attack on US interests

Tehran casts aside traditional cautions to openly retaliate for US drone strike that killed top military general

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for a direct attack on US interests — rather than relying on Iranian proxies instead — as he made a rare appearance at a meeting of the government’s National Security Council to lay down the parametres for any retaliation.

It must be a direct and proportional attack on American interests, he said, openly carried out by Iranian forces themselves, three Iranians familiar with the meeting told New York Times.

Khamenei adviser says Iran response to US to be 'military'

In a startling departure from Iran’s usual tactics of allegedly cloaking its attacks behind actions of proxies it cultivates around the region, Tehran was willing to cast aside those traditional cautions to openly retaliate for the US drone strike that killed military commander, Major General Qassim Suleimani — who was a close ally and personal friend of the supreme leader — on Friday.

The nation’s anger over the commander’s death was on vivid display on Monday, as millions of Iranians poured into the streets of Tehran for a funeral procession and Khamenei wept openly over the coffin.

The story originally appeared on The New York Times