Quds Force leader killed in US attack

General Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force, has been killed by US forces in Iraq.

The Pentagon confirmed he was killed "at the direction of the president".
Gen Soleimani was being driven car at Baghdad airport with local Iran-backed militias when hit by a US air strike.

Iran's Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, called the move "extremely dangerous and a foolish escalation".

Gen Soleimani was a major figure in the Iranian regime. His Quds Force reported directly to the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and he was hailed as a heroic national figure.

A spokesman for the Iranian government said the country's top security body would hold an extraordinary meeting shortly to discuss the "criminal act of attack".

US President Donald Trump tweeted an image of the American flag after the news broke.

Global oil prices meanwhile soared more than 4% in the wake of the strike.

Source: Agencies