Reuters - President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday Iran has responded, and will respond, to America�s assassination of Major-General Qassem Soleimani, the Revolutionary Guards commander killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq in January.

Rouhani was speaking following a Cabinet meeting that was broadcast on state television.

Soleimani, leader of the Revolutionary Guards� Quds Force, was instrumental in expanding Iran�s military influence in the Middle East as the operative who handles clandestine operations outside Iran. The 62-year-old general was regarded as the second-most powerful figure in Iran after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

�The Americans assassinated our great commander. We have responded to that terrorist act and will respond to it,� Rouhani said in a televised speech.

Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Alex Richardson