Huge crowds pack Tehran for Soleimani’s funeral

Mourners packed the streets of the Iranian capital Tehran for the funeral of the slain Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani.

Soleimani was assassinated in a US drone strike in Iraq on Friday on the orders of President Donald Trump.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei led prayers and at one point was seen weeping.

Iran has vowed “severe revenge” for the death of Soleimani and on Sunday pulled back from the 2015 nuclear accord.

Soleimani, 62, spearheaded Iranian military operations in the Middle East, and was regarded as a terrorist by the US.

President Trump said Soleimani was plotting “imminent” attacks on US diplomats and military personnel in Iraq and elsewhere in the region.

Following Monday’s funeral, the general’s remains will then be taken to Qom, one of the centres of Shia Islam, for a ceremony ahead of a burial in his hometown of Kerman on Tuesday.

See also: Soleimani’s daughter warns:  US, Israel face ‘dark day’ for his death

 

Via BBC/Al Jazeera

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