Gen. Soleimani Returns to Hometown to Unbelievable Welcome
TEHRAN (Kayhan Intl.) -- Millions of mourners thronged the streets in Iran’s southeastern city of Kerman on Tuesday to attend a final funeral for the Middle East’s most prominent anti-terror commander who was assassinated by the U.S. in Baghdad on Friday.
Officials announced that the burial of General Qassem Soleimani’s remains had been postponed after a number of mourners lost their lives in a stampede as a huge crowd packed the streets in his hometown.
The remains of General Soleimani and his loyal companion Major General Hussein Pourjafari arrived at the Kerman airport early Tuesday, following massive funeral processions in the cities of Ahvaz, Mashhad, Tehran and Qom, as well as the Iraqi cities of Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf, which drew tens of millions of mourners.
An estimated seven million mourners packed the 11-kilometer thoroughfare connecting the two Azadi and Imam Hussein squares as well as the intersecting side streets in the capital Tehran during Monday’s funeral, according to the Coordination Council for Islamic Propagation.
Mourners in Kerman dressed in black carried posters bearing the image of Gen. Soleimani, a man whose martyrdom prompted Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to weep over his casket on Monday.
The outpouring of grief was an unprecedented honor for a man viewed by Iranians as a national hero for his selfless devotion to the country.
Gen. Soleimani’s remains and those of the others martyred in the U.S. airstrike were brought to a central square in Kerman, a desert city surrounded by mountains that dates back to the days of the Silk Road where he was to be buried later on Tuesday.
Chants of "Death to America” and "Death to Israel” rang out across the city. Pir-Hussein Kolivand, head of Iran’s Emergency Medical Services, confirmed that 56 mourners had lost their lives in the stampede.
President Donald Trump ordered a U.S. drone strike early Friday on General Soleimani’s motorcade upon his arrival in the Iraqi capital at the invitation of the Baghdad government.
The attack also martyred Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), as well as eight other Iranian and Iraqi people.
Iran has sworn "harsh revenge” against the U.S. for its terrorist operation.
A separate mass funeral was held for Muhandis in the southwestern Iranian city of Abadan, from where his body was transferred to Khorramshahr and Shalamcheh in Iran’s Khuzestan Province for similar mourning ceremonies.
Later in the day, the remains of the senior Iraqi commander were taken back to his hometown of Basra in Iraq across from the Iranian border.
Both Soleimani and Muhandis played a key role in defeating Daesh which at its peak, threatened a complete take-over of Iraq and Syria.
Gen. Soleimani’s popularity transcends geographical boundaries,
Officials announced that the burial of General Qassem Soleimani’s remains had been postponed after a number of mourners lost their lives in a stampede as a huge crowd packed the streets in his hometown.
The remains of General Soleimani and his loyal companion Major General Hussein Pourjafari arrived at the Kerman airport early Tuesday, following massive funeral processions in the cities of Ahvaz, Mashhad, Tehran and Qom, as well as the Iraqi cities of Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf, which drew tens of millions of mourners.
An estimated seven million mourners packed the 11-kilometer thoroughfare connecting the two Azadi and Imam Hussein squares as well as the intersecting side streets in the capital Tehran during Monday’s funeral, according to the Coordination Council for Islamic Propagation.
Mourners in Kerman dressed in black carried posters bearing the image of Gen. Soleimani, a man whose martyrdom prompted Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to weep over his casket on Monday.
The outpouring of grief was an unprecedented honor for a man viewed by Iranians as a national hero for his selfless devotion to the country.
Gen. Soleimani’s remains and those of the others martyred in the U.S. airstrike were brought to a central square in Kerman, a desert city surrounded by mountains that dates back to the days of the Silk Road where he was to be buried later on Tuesday.
Chants of "Death to America” and "Death to Israel” rang out across the city. Pir-Hussein Kolivand, head of Iran’s Emergency Medical Services, confirmed that 56 mourners had lost their lives in the stampede.
President Donald Trump ordered a U.S. drone strike early Friday on General Soleimani’s motorcade upon his arrival in the Iraqi capital at the invitation of the Baghdad government.
The attack also martyred Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), as well as eight other Iranian and Iraqi people.
Iran has sworn "harsh revenge” against the U.S. for its terrorist operation.
A separate mass funeral was held for Muhandis in the southwestern Iranian city of Abadan, from where his body was transferred to Khorramshahr and Shalamcheh in Iran’s Khuzestan Province for similar mourning ceremonies.
Later in the day, the remains of the senior Iraqi commander were taken back to his hometown of Basra in Iraq across from the Iranian border.
Both Soleimani and Muhandis played a key role in defeating Daesh which at its peak, threatened a complete take-over of Iraq and Syria.
Gen. Soleimani’s popularity transcends geographical boundaries,
and many people across the Middle East and beyond regard him as the figurehead in defeating Daesh and other Takfiri groups.
His humble persona and devotion to the security of the regional countries and the Palestinian cause made him a darling of the masses in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and even the Palestinian territories.
Gen. Soleimani won the enmity of the U.S., the occupying regime of Israel and their allies in the West and the Middle East alike, because they viewed the charismatic military tactician as a threat to their plans in a resource-rich region.
The U.S. assassination of the top Iranian commander along with Muhandis and eight others has sent shock waves across the world.
It has forged greater unity in the region against U.S. interventionism, with insistent calls for revenge being echoed across the Muslim world.
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