President Rouhani Tells Visiting Qatari FM: U.S. Has to Pay a Heavy Price for Its Crime

President Hassan Rouhani told visiting Qatari foreign minister in Tehran Saturday that the U.S. is responsible for any consequences of its act of terror and has to pay dearly for its assassination of a top Iranian commander.

“The Americans have unfortunately taken a new path that can be very precarious for the region,” he told Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Rouhani called for closer consultations and coordination among friendly countries. He said Tehran expects friendly and neighboring countries to explicitly condemn the “U.S. crime” in assassinating Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

“I hope that we will all denounce state terrorism in unison, and that regional countries will further strengthen their unity, coherence and understanding,” the president stated.

The U.S. terrorist act, Hasan Rouhani said, was an affront to the Iraqi people and a violation of the Arab country’s national sovereignty.

The president touched on the “very destructive” presence of the U.S. in the region, saying all regional countries should realize that peace would not be established in the region as long as the Americans are present here.

Al Thani, who also serves as Qatari deputy prime minister, said his country is resolved to further improve cooperation with Iran.

He expressed his condolences to the Iranian people over the assassination of General Soleimani and said Doha is very concerned about the ramifications of the U.S. move.

Rouhani also held a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calling the U.S. assassination a “big folly” and urging regional countries not to remain silent toward the crime.

Rouhani warned that if countries in the region refrain from standing up to the U.S. acts of aggression in a united way, such a failure will further embolden the enemy to commit more serious crimes against all the regional states.

Erdogan offered his condolences to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and the Iranian government and nation over the IRGC commander’s assassination.

He stressed the importance of establishing stability and security in the region and said foreign interference and regional conflicts would hinder the establishment of regional peace.