DONALD Trump’s Doonbeg Hotel and Shannon Airport are not being targeted for revenge attacks, the Iranian ambassador to Ireland has said.

Masoud Eslami made the remarks in the wake of the assassination by the United States of Iran’s Major General Qassem Soleimani last week.

Mr Eslami said that Mr Soleimani is held in the same esteem in Iran as Irish revolutionary hero Michael Collins is here.

He claimed Mr Soleimani’s assassination in Iraq was “outrageous state-sponsored terrorism” which was ordered by Mr Trump.

Mr Eslami initially said he would rule out any Iranian retaliation targeting Shannon Airport “for the time being” but later moved to offer further reassurance that clarify that neither the transport hub or Mr Trump’s hotel in Co Clare are targets.

He said he could "absolutely" rule it out adding: “I don’t want to make a statement that brings worry or makes people worry about this but I can tell you that it is not in the interests of Iran.

“Iran is not speculating to target this kind of facilities.”

He did urge the Irish Government “to reconsider the use of Shannon Airport to facilitate military action by the US which has been an issue at local level, a national level in Ireland.”

This is a reference to the protests that have taken place at the airport.

On the prospect of an attack on Mr Trump’s hotel in Co Clare he said: “It has not been intended… to threaten personal properties of Trump anywhere, and it is definitely not going to be the case in Ireland.”

The United States have defended the killing of Mr Soleimani insisting it was aimed at preventing future attacks against their forces and that he was responsible for the deaths of more than 600 US soldiers through proxies during the war in Iraq.

Mr Eslami made a comparison between Mr Soleimani and Michael Collins saying that it would allow a "glimpse of the the and sorrow that tens of millions of people are feeling because of his loss".

He argued that both men were "icons of resistance and bravery" in repelling foreign intervention.

Online Editors