Rally in memorial of Qassem Soleimani in Tehran Reuters The United States begged Iran not to retaliate against US interests in response to the elimination of top commander Qassem Soleimani, Iran's deputy foreign minister claimed on Sunday, according to JPost .

“The US sent a message to Iran via the Swiss ambassador [whose mission also acts as Washington’s interests section in Tehran] to demand that Iran not give a response, but it was rejected immediately,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohsen Baharvand claimed.

Soleimani was the target of a US drone strike on a convoy at Baghdad International Airport in Iraq on January 3. The attack also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), which have been referred to as an Iranian proxy force in the region.

Iran retaliated for the killing of Soleimani by launching a barrage of missiles on two Iraqi military bases hosting American troops. 34 service members were diagnosed with traumatic brain injury as a result of the attack.

Last month, Iran announced that it had issued arrest warrants for 36 officials involved in Soleimani's death, all of whom are accused of murder and terrorism. Among those is US President Donald Trump.

Iran requested that Interpol assist it in arresting Trump, but Interpol swiftly rejected that request, saying its guidelines for notices forbids it from "any intervention or activities of a political" nature.

Tags: US-Iran , Qassem Solemaini