World / Pics of US air strike that killed top Iranian, Iraqi commanders surface online

General Qassim Soleimani, head of Iran's elite Quds Force, was killed in a US airstrike at Baghdad's international airport early on Friday, an assassination that marks a major escalation in US-Iran tensions.

The strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF.

The Pentagon said US President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Soleimani "in a decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad".

"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," the Department of Defence said.

US officials told Reuters that Soleimani had been killed in a drone strike.

The killing of Soleimani  is a major blow for Iran. Together with the death of Muhandis, the attack could mark a potential turning point in the Middle East and is expected to draw severe retaliation from Iran and the forces it backs in the Middle East against Israel and American interests.

Iran warns of 'harsh retaliation'

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that a "harsh retaliation is waiting" for the US.

The Iranian state TV carried a statement by Khamenei also calling Soleimani "the international face of resistance." Khamenei declared three days of public mourning for the general's death.

President Hasan Rouhani  said Iran and the "free nations of the region" will take revenge on the United States.

"There is no doubt that the great nation of Iran and the other free nations of the region will take revenge for this gruesome crime from criminal America," Rouhani said in a statement posted on the Iranian government website.

Government spokesman Ali Rabiei warned on Twitter that retaliation was "not too far away".

Iran's top security body called an urgent meeting on Friday, semi-official news agency ISNA reported.