"For one thing, you are damned wrong because this matter has nothing to do with Iran. And for another, you ought to be reasonable and try to understand what the root causes of these incidents are," Khamenei said.

He advised the U.S administration to realize how the regional people, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan, hate them for the crimes they have perpetrated.

"If Iran decides to confront a country, it will do so openly. But everyone must know that we are strongly committed to the country’s interests and the Iranian nation’s dignity, grandeur and progress, and we shall not hesitate to intervene and deal a blow to any party who attempts to pose a threat to the country," he stressed.

On 29 December 2019, the United States bombed the headquarters of of Kata'eb Hezbollah. The airstrikes targeted three Kata'eb Hezbollah locations in Iraq near Al-Qaim, and two in Syria, and included weapons depots and command posts. The attack was carried out on the pretext of retaliation after a barrage of over 30 rockets were fired towards the K-1 two days earlier and other attacks on bases with US forces in Iraq. The earlier attack killed a US contractor and wounded several Iraqi and US soldiers. Iraq's Health Ministry reported that 28 people were killed and 48 wounded in the attack. 

In response to the American bombing of the Kata'eb Hezbollah headquarters, protesters attacked the US embassy in the Green Zone in Baghdad on 31 December 2019. Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Kata'eb Hezbollah commander, was also among the protesters.

Trump threatened Iran on Wednesday following an attack on the US embassy in Baghdad and said that Iran would be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities. (ILKHA)