General Qasem Soleimani, the powerful commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, was killed in a US air strike in Iraq ordered by President Donald Trump, the Pentagon announced on Friday. The strike also killed the deputy chief of Iraq's powerful Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force.
Prominent Shia cleric, Maulana Kalbe Jawad Naqavi has organised a protest rally against the US forces for the assassination of Qasem Soleimani. The protest rally will be held at Chhota Imambara in Lucknow on Saturday.
The strike comes days after Trump threatened Tehran after Iraqi supporters of pro-Iranian regime factions laid siege to the US embassy in Baghdad, following deadly American air strikes on a hardline Hashed faction.
The Pentagon alleged that the strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans.
"General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more," it alleged.
It said that Soleimani had "orchestrated" attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months - including the attack on December 27 - culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel.
(With Inputs from PTI)
