“As a person who has always worked in the field of peace and negotiation, I truly consider him not just a champion of fight against terrorists, but also a hero in peace-making efforts,” Zarif said in a televised interview on Sunday night.

The Iranian top diplomat said he always consulted with General Soleimani, and his advice was always “useful” to him.

“In the time when I was Iran’s ambassador and permanent (UN) representative in the US, and during the negotiations I had been ordered by the Supreme Leader to hold, I used to come back to Tehran to consult with Hajj Qassem, and then leave the country to hold negotiations,” Zarif added.

“Hajj Qassem’s consultations were always useful to me, and I really didn’t take any advice from other people. Once I asked the Supreme Leader to allow Hajj Qassem to personally participate in the session, and I was sure the talks would have been much more successful (with him in attendance),” he sai d, Press TV reported.

Zarif further praised Soleimani’s personal characteristics, describing him as a person who cared about people’s lives, reputation, and end of conflicts.

“Any peace plan I pursued had definitely been devised by Hajj Qassem; he both encouraged us and helped us with the follow-ups,” he added.

Zarif also highlighted the significant role played by General Soleimani in the 2001 Bonn Conference, which resulted in an agreement on the re-creation of the State of Afghanistan following the US invasion of the country.

“Hajj Qassem played a more important role in Tehran by holding talks with all jihadi groups of Afghanistan, to convince them to accept an equation which could shape a new future for Afghanistan in the years to come,” he noted.

Zarif made the comments on the first anniversary of the assassination of General Soleimani, along with his comrades, in a US drone strike near the Baghdad International Airport.

In his Sunday remarks, the Iranian top diplomat slammed US President Donald Trump for assassinating Soleimani in such a “cowardly” way.

“Hajj Qassem used to tell me he was waiting for a bullet, and he thought he’d be shot in the battlefield. He would never think the Americans may hit a car in the mid-night in such a way. It was an easy job to hit that car… It really shows Trump’s misery and cowardice,” Zarif said.

“The Americans were terrified of Hajj Qassem and considered him a genius in the battlefront. He was a genius who had defeated them in Syria and Yemen,” he added.