MOSCOW, January 4. /TASS/. Iranian citizens residing in Moscow and Russian nationals are bringing flowers to the Iranian Embassy building in the Russian capital to honor the memory of Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in the strike by US forces near Baghdad on Friday.

TASS reports that many Iranian exchange students and representatives of the Iranian media have arrived at the scene, along with Russian nationals expressing solidarity with the Iranian people.

The flag at the Iranian Embassy is at half-mast. The embassy’s press service informed TASS that this had been done at all Iranian diplomatic missions across the world.

On Friday, the Pentagon confirmed that a missile strike near the Baghdad airport killed the head of the Quds Force Qasem Soleimani. The operation was carried out at the direction of US President Donald Trump, the statement said. According to the Pentagon, the strike was defensive, since it was aimed at protecting US troops in Iraq and other countries. Washington blamed Soleimani for allegedly approving a rally outside the US Embassy in Baghdad earlier this week.

Following the attack, the Supreme National Security Council of Iran vowed to exact "severe revenge" on those involved in Soleimani’s killing, blaming the United States for the attack. In a phone call with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif blasted the attack as an act of terrorism from the side of the US. He pointed out that Tehran would take international measures to hold Washington responsible for the general’s murder.