"Iran's revenge against America for the assassination of Soleimani will be severe. … Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Israeli military centers will be included in the retaliation," Gen. Mohsen Rezaei said during a Tehran ceremony held in Soleimani's honor.

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Rezaei later reiterated the threat on Twitter.

Rezaei, who now serves as head of Iran's powerful Expediency Council, is considered a top politician and an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

On Friday, Rezaei vowed vengeance against the US.

"Martyr Gen. Qassem Suleimani joined his martyred brothers, but we will take vigorous revenge on America," he wrote on Twitter.

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The twin developments could bring Iran closer to building an atomic bomb and enable the Islamic State group to stage a comeback in Iraq, making the Middle East a far more dangerous and unstable place.

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Adding to the tensions, US President Donald Trump threatened to demand billions of dollars in compensation from Iraq or impose "sanctions like they've never seen before" if it goes through with expelling US troops.

Iranian state television cited a statement by President Hassan Rouhani's administration saying the country would not observe the nuclear deal's restrictions on fuel enrichment, on the size of its enriched uranium stockpile, and on its research and development activities.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran no longer faces any limitations in operations," a state TV broadcaster said.

In Iraq, meanwhile, lawmakers voted in favor of a resolution calling for an end to the foreign military presence in the country, including the estimated 5,200 US troops stationed to help fight Islamic State extremists. The bill is subject to approval by the Iraqi government but has the backing of the outgoing prime minister.

In yet another sign of rising tensions and threats of retaliation over the deadly airstrike, the US-led military coalition in Iraq said it is putting the battle against IS on hold to focus on protecting its own troops and bases.

The string of developments capped a day of mass mourning over Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad on Friday. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets in the cities of Ahvaz and Mashhad to walk alongside the casket of Soleimani, who was the architect of Iran's proxy wars across the Mideast and was blamed for the deaths of hundreds of Americans in roadside bombings and other attacks.

Trump responded to the parliament's troop withdrawal vote with a monetary threat, saying the US expected to be paid for its military investments in Iraq before leaving and threatening economic sanctions if the US is not treated properly.

"We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that's there. It cost billions of dollars to build. Long before my time. We're not leaving unless they pay us back for it," he told reporters aboard Air Force One.

"If they do ask us to leave, if we don't do it in a very friendly basis, we will charge them sanctions like they've never seen before ever. It'll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame," he said

He added: "We're not leaving until they pay us back for it."

State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus earlier said the US is awaiting clarification on its legal meaning but was "disappointed" by the move and strongly urged Iraq to reconsider.

"We believe it is in the shared interests of the United States and Iraq to continue fighting ISIS together," Ortagus said.

The leaders of Germany, France, and Britain issued a joint statement on Sunday calling on Iran to abide by the terms of the nuclear deal and refrain from conducting or supporting further "violent acts."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson specifically urged Iran to "withdraw all measures" not in line with the 2015 agreement that was intended to stop Tehran from pursuing its atomic weapons program.

Iran insisted that it remains open to negotiations with European partners over its nuclear program. And it did not back off from earlier promises that it wouldn't seek a nuclear weapon.

However, the announcement represents the clearest nuclear proliferation threat yet made by Iran since Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018 and reimposed sanctions. It further raises regional tensions, as Iran's longtime foe Israel has promised never to allow Iran to produce an atomic bomb.

Iran did not elaborate on what levels it would immediately reach in its program. Tehran has already broken some of the deal's limits as part of a step-by-step pressure campaign to get sanctions relief. It has increased its production, begun enriching uranium to 5% and restarted enrichment at an underground facility.

While it does not possess uranium enriched to weapons-grade levels of 90%, any push forward narrows the estimated one-year "breakout time" needed for it to have enough material to build a nuclear weapon if it chose to do so.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations watchdog observing Iran's program, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, Iran said that its cooperation with the IAEA "will continue as before."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi earlier told journalists that Soleimani's killing would prompt Iranian officials to take a bigger step away from the nuclear deal.

"In the world of politics, all developments are interconnected," Mousavi said.

Soleimani's killing has escalated the crisis between Tehran and Washington after months of back-and-forth attacks and threats that have put the wider Middle East on edge. Iran has promised "harsh revenge" for the US attack, while Trump has vowed on Twitter that the US will strike back at 52 targets.

The US Embassy in Saudi Arabia warned Americans "of the heightened risk of missile and drone attacks."" In Lebanon, the leader of the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah said Soleimani's killing made US military bases, warships, and service members across the region fair game for attacks. A former Iranian Revolutionary Guards leader suggested the Israeli city of Haifa and centers like Tel Aviv could be targeted should the US attack Iran.

Iranian state TV estimated that millions of mourners came out in Ahvaz and Mashhad to pay their respects to Soleimani.

The casket moved slowly through streets choked with mourners wearing black, beating their chests, and carrying posters with Soleimani's portrait. Demonstrators also carried red Shiite flags, which traditionally symbolize both the spilled blood of someone unjustly killed and a call for vengeance.

The processions marked the first time Iran honored a single man with a multi-city ceremony. Not even Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who founded the Islamic Republic, received such a processional with his death in 1989. Soleimani on Monday will lie in state at Tehran's famed Musalla mosque as the revolutionary leader did before him.

Soleimani's remains will go to Tehran and Qom on Monday for public mourning processions. He will be buried in his hometown of Kerman.

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The day of mourning in the Iraqi capital ended Saturday evening with a series of rockets that were launched and fell inside or near the Green Zone, which houses government offices and foreign embassies, including the US Embassy.

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Iran has vowed harsh retaliation for the US airstrike ordered early Friday by President Donald Trump that killed Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force and mastermind of its regional security strategy, and several senior Iraqi fighters. The attack has caused regional tensions to soar, raising fears of an all-out war, and tested the US alliance with Iraq.

Trump, meanwhile, warned that the US too was ready to respond if Tehran strikes back. He said Saturday that the US had already "targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture."

Trump did not identify the targets but tweeted that they would be "HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD."

Trump says he ordered the strike, a high-risk decision that was made without consulting Congress or US allies, to prevent a conflict. US officials say Soleimani was plotting a series of attacks that endangered American troops and officials, without providing evidence.

They attacked us, & we hit back. If they attack again, which I would strongly advise them not to do, we will hit them harder than they have ever been hit before! https://t.co/qI5RfWsSCH

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2020

Soleimani was the architect of Iran's regional policy of mobilizing militias across Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, including in the war against the Islamic State group. He was also blamed for attacks on US troops and American allies going back decades.

Though it's unclear how or when Iran may respond, any retaliation was likely to come after three days of mourning declared in both Iran and Iraq. All eyes were on Iraq, where America and Iran have competed for influence since the 2003 US-led invasion.

After the airstrike early Friday, the US-led coalition has scaled back operations and boosted "security and defensive measures" at bases hosting coalition forces in Iraq, a coalition official said on the condition of anonymity, according to regulations. Meanwhile, the US has dispatched another 3,000 troops to neighboring Kuwait, the latest in a series of deployments in recent months as the standoff with Iran has worsened.

In a thinly veiled threat, one of the Iran-backed militia, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, called on Iraqi security forces to stay at least 1,000 yards away from US bases starting Sunday night. However, US troops are invariably based in Iraqi military posts alongside local forces.

"The leaders of the security forces should protect their fighters and not allow them to become human shields to the occupying crusaders," the warning statement said.

By Saturday evening, as the funeral processions were still taking place, a series of rocket attacks on bases that house US forces were launched. A Katyusha rocket fell inside a square less than a kilometer (half a mile) from the US Embassy, according to an Iraqi security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. The US-led coalition confirmed the attack, saying indirect fire landed outside of its facilities. No troops were hurt.

Rockets also landed in the vicinity of Balad Air Base, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) north of Baghdad, the coalition said, adding that no troops were hurt. Earlier an Iraqi official said three rockets fell in a farm area outside the base.

"We have increased security and defensive measures at the Iraqi bases that host [anti-Islamic State] Coalition troops," said spokesman Col. Myles B. Caggins, who said the troops have come under 13 different attacks throughout Iraq in the past two months.

Another rocket in Baghdad landed about 500 meters (540 yards) from As-Salam Palace where the Iraqi President Barham Salih normally stays in Jadriya, a neighborhood adjacent to the Green Zone, the Iraqi official said.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Iraqi armed forces said Saturday the movement of coalition forces, including US troops, in the air and on the ground will be restricted, conditioned on receiving approval from Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, the commander in chief of the armed forces.

It was not immediately clear what the new restrictions would mean, given that coalition troops were already subject to limitations and had to coordinate with the Joint Operation Command of top Iraqi military commanders.

Iraq's government, which is closely allied with Iran, condemned the airstrike that killed Soleimani, calling it an attack on its national sovereignty. Parliament is meeting for an emergency session Sunday, and the government has come under mounting pressure to expel the 5,200 American troops who are based in the country to help prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State group.

Also Saturday, NATO temporarily suspended all training activities in Iraq due to safety concerns, Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan said.

Amid the rising tension, the funeral procession for Soleimani and his aides lasted all of Saturday, moving from Baghdad to two of Shiite Islam's holiest cities, Najaf and Karbala.

In Baghdad, thousands of mourners, mostly men in black military fatigues, carried Iraqi flags and the flags of Iran-backed militias that are fiercely loyal to Soleimani at Saturday's ceremony. They were also grieving for Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a senior Iraqi militia commander who was killed in the same strike.

The mourners, many of them in tears, chanted "No, No, America," and "Death to America, death to Israel." Mohammed Fadl, a mourner dressed in black, said the funeral is an expression of loyalty to the slain leaders. "It is a painful strike, but it will not shake us," he said.

Helicopters hovered over the procession, which was attended by Abdul-Mahdi and leaders of Iran-backed militias. As the procession later made its way to the holy city of Karbala, the mourners raised red flags associated with unjust bloodshed and revenge.

The slain Iraqi militants will be buried in Najaf, while Soleimani's remains will be taken to Iran. More funeral services will be held for Soleimani in Iran on Sunday and Monday, before his body is laid to rest in his hometown of Kerman.

The US has ordered all citizens to leave Iraq and temporarily closed its embassy in Baghdad, where Iran-backed militiamen and their supporters staged two days of violent protests in which they breached the compound. Britain and France have warned their citizens to avoid or strictly limit travel in Iraq.

No one was hurt in the embassy protests, which came in response to US airstrikes that killed 25 Iran-backed militiamen in Iraq and Syria. The US blamed the militia for a rocket attack that killed a US contractor in northern Iraq.

Tensions between the US and Iran have steadily intensified since Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal and restore crippling sanctions that have devastated Iran's economy and contributed to recent protests there in which hundreds were reportedly killed.

In an apparent effort to defuse tensions, Qatar's foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, made an unplanned trip to Iran where he met with Rouhani and other senior officials.

Qatar hosts American forces at the Al Udeid Air Base and shares a massive offshore oil and gas field with Iran.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with various world leaders including Iraqi President Barham Salih, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, of the United Arab Emirates. "I reaffirmed that the US remains committed to de-escalation," Pompeo tweeted.

In Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited Soleimani's home to express his condolences. "The Americans did not realize what a great mistake they made," Rouhani said.

As threats of revenge against the US loomed, major streets in Iran were filled with billboards and images of Soleimani, who was widely seen as a national icon and a hero of the so-called Axis of Resistance against Western hegemony.

"I don't think there will be a war, but we must get his revenge," said Hojjat Sanieefar. America "can't hit and run anymore."

Another man, who only identified himself as Amir, was worried.

"If there is a war, I am 100% sure it will not be to our betterment. The situation will certainly get worse," he said.

In a sign of his regional reach, supporters in Lebanon hung billboards commemorating Soleimani in Beirut's southern suburbs and in southern Lebanon along the disputed border with Israel, according to the state-run National News Agency.

Both are strongholds of the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group, whose leader, Hassan Nasrallah, had close ties to Soleimani. A picture of Nasrallah hangs in Soleimani's home.

Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip, including the territory's Hamas rulers, opened a mourning site for the slain general and dozens gathered to burn American and Israeli flags.

The killing of Soleimani was "a loss for Palestine and the resistance," said senior Hamas official Ismail Radwan.

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