The Japanese Foreign Ministry issued a warning Sunday to its citizens in the Middle East citing security concerns after Iran said it would retaliate against the US following the killing of Tehran's top military commander.

The Japanese warning tells citizens to stay in a safe area, maintain communications channels and keep family and friends updated on whereabouts.

Japanese auto giant Toyota says it has not made any policy changes on travel for its employees to the Middle East.

The leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has threatened to “set ablaze” places supported by the US over the killing of a top Iranian general in a US airstrike last week, sparking cries from the crowd of supporters of “Death to Israel!”

Hossein Salami made the pledge Tuesday before a crowd of thousands in a central square in Kerman, Iran, the hometown of the slain Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Salami's vow mirrored the demands of top Iranian officials for retaliation against the US for a slaying that has drastically raised tensions across the Middle East.

Mourners carried posters bearing the image of Soleimani, a man whose slaying prompted Iran's supreme leader to weep over his casket on Monday as a crowd said by police to be in the millions filled Tehran streets.

AP