Referring to Iranian strikes on U.S. targets that followed last week’s assassination of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad, Hatami said: "We used short range missiles. I hope this will be a memorable lesson for America."

"Iran’s response to any U.S. retaliation will be proportional to what America will do," he added.

Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and the acting commander of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) - known as the Hash al-Shaabi - Abu Mahdi Al-Mohandes were targeted and assassinated by the US forces while they were separately leaving Baghdad airport in two cars on January 3.

In retaliation, Iran fired ballistic missiles Wednesday at the U.S. military bases in Iraq, killing 80 American soldiers, raising the stakes in its confrontation with Washington amid fears of a wider war in the Middle East. (ILKHA)