The US has been dreaming of returning to Iran for 41 years, said Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, speaking at a rally in Tehran in honor of the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution,

"US says we must return to 41 years ago but we say we don’t do so …  therefore, we see hostility of US has emerged during the past 41 years in various forms," Mehr reported quoting the president.

“Martyr Soleimani was both a general in the battlefield and a senior diplomat in negotiations. He was martyred en route to talks with Iraqi Prime Minister not en route to battlefield,” he said. “Martyr Soleimani was not seeking war and instability in the region; US and Israel are lying about him. He was after creating stability and offered security to the region.”

Iranian General Qasem Soleimani was killed as a result of a US Air Force strike near Baghdad Airport on January 3.