Photo: AP

MOSCOW, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- The killing of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. airstrike on Friday is fraught with grave consequences for regional peace and stability, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"Such an action does not contribute to finding solutions to the complex problems that have accumulated in the Middle East, but rather leads to a new round of escalation of tensions in the region," it said in a statement.

The ministry said it was alarmed by the information that Soleimani, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Quds Force, was killed in the U.S. airstrike near Baghdad International Airport.

Iran's top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed "severe revenge" for the deadly attack.