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Huge crowds led by weeping supreme leader mourn Suleimani in Iran Weeping supreme leader heads vast crowds mourning Suleimani in Iran
(about 4 hours later)
Tensions rise as thousands take to streets of Tehran for funeral of general killed in drone strike Tensions rise as hundreds of thousands take to streets of Tehran for funeral of general killed in drone strike
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has publicly wept presiding over a vast public funeral procession in Tehran for Qassem Suleimani, the powerful general killed by a US drone strike in Baghdad on Friday. Revolutionary songs of 40 years ago rang out on Tehran’s streets on Monday as hundreds of thousands of Iranians gathered to mourn the country’s top general, Qassem Suleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike last week.
Khamenei’s voice cracked with emotion as he recited prayers over the casket of Suleimani, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds Force, as well as others killed in the attack, which has drastically raised tensions between Tehran and Washington. Huge crowds of mourners clad in black slowly passed Suleimani’s flag-draped coffin over their heads, and roads across the city were blocked by heavy traffic as the procession made its way toward Azadi Square.
Roads across the city were blocked by heavy traffic as hundreds of thousands of mourners thronged the area around Tehran University before the procession made its way towards Azadi (Freedom) Square on Monday morning. Ayatollah Ali Khameni’s voice cracked with emotion and the country’s supreme leader wept openly as he recited prayers over the caskets of Suleimani and others killed in the attack in Baghdad on Friday, which has heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington dramatically.
State media said millions of people had poured on to the streets of the Iranian capital. The scale of the crowds shown on television appeared to be the biggest since the funeral in 1989 of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The mood on the streets swung between mourning, anger and a desire for retribution. Among the procession, a four-year-old girl led chants of “death to America” and mourners shouted “neither mediation nor surrender” while groups of uniformed security officers and secret service agents weaved their way through the crowds.
Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, also made a surprise visit to Tehran for the ceremony, where he described Suleimani in his address as the “martyr of Jerusalem”. Signs posted around the area showed the faces of Suleimani and Khamenei with the words “harsh revenge awaits”, and slogans including “Iraqis and Iranians are friends and nobody can separate them”.
The coffins of Suleimani and the Iraqi militia leader, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was also killed in Friday’s attack, were draped in their national flags and passed from hand to hand across the heads of mourners. The phrase “God willing we’ll receive the news that Tel Aviv has been turned into dust very soon” blared from loudspeakers.
Many Iranians considered Suleimani, who was a decorated veteran of the eight-year war with Iraq, a national hero. He was widely seen as the second most powerful figure in Iran after Khamenei and one of the most influential in the region. A petition asking for names and phone numbers of people in the crowd read: “I am ready for jihad at any moment and awaiting my leaders’ orders.”
Signs posted around the area showed the faces of Suleimani and Khamenei with the words “Harsh revenge is awaiting”, echoing comments by Iranian military and political leaders. The huge processions to mourn to the former leader of the Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds force mark the first time Iran has honoured an individual with ceremonies in various cities. Suleimani’s body was flown back to Iran on Sunday, when mourners gathered in Ahvaz and Mashhad. After Tehran his coffin will be taken to the holy city of Qom before being buried in his hometown of Kerman on Tuesday.
Slogans chanted on loudspeakers included: “Iraqis and Iranians are friends and nobody can separate them” and “God willing we’ll receive the news that Tel Aviv has been turned into dust very soon.” “Have you EVER seen such a sea of humanity in your life?” Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, asked Donald Trump in a tweet. “Do you still want to listen to the clowns advising you on our region? And do you still imagine you can break the will of this great nation?”
“Many countries owe their existence to [Suleimani],” said an older man, as funeral verses blared from loudspeakers. “Syria, Iraq and Yemen would collapse without him.” State media said millions of people had poured onto the streets of the capital. The crowds shown on television appeared to be the biggest since the 1989 funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.
Another man marched with a placard reading: “Be mute the tongue that talks about negotiating with the USA” while a four-year-old girl led chants of “Death to America.” Suleimani, who was widely considered one of the most important figures in the Middle East and second only to Khamenei inside Iran, was a decorated veteran of Iran’s eight-year war with Iraq and later the prime architect of Iranian influence abroad. He is seen by many as a national hero who saved the region from Islamic State.
Women wept and mourners shouted “neither mediation, nor surrender” as groups of uniformed security officers and secret service agents weaved their way through the crowd. Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Hamas authorities in Gaza, made a surprise visit to Tehran for the ceremony, where he described Suleimani in his address as the “martyr of Jerusalem”.
A petition circulated through the streets asking for names and phone numbers read: “I am ready for jihad at any moment and awaiting my leaders’ orders.” “Many countries owe their existence to [Suleimani]. Syria, Iraq and Yemen would collapse without him,” one elderly man in the crowd said.
Donald Trump has said the US military had drawn up a list of 52 targets, the same number of US embassy hostages held for 444 days after the Iranian revolution, that he said would be hit if Americans or US assets were attacked in revenge over Sulemani’s killing. “We’re all followers and will follow his way. His mission will be accomplished someday with the liberation of Palestine,” a woman said.
Trump, whose administration has imposed new sanctions on Iran since 2018 over its nuclear ambitions and other activities via proxies in the region, said the targets included cultural sites. His comments have drawn international criticism.In Tehran, Zeinab Suleimani, the commander’s daughter, said in her fiery address to mourners: “America and Zionism should know that my father’s martyrdom will lead to awakening … in the resistance front and bring about a dark day for them and flatten their homes.” “For some Iranians, Suleimani was a war hero … But that doesn’t explain why millions of Iranians are in the streets for his funeral,” said Holly Dagres, an Iran specialist at the Atlantic Council.
Iran usually refers to Israel as the Zionist state and describes regional countries and other forces opposed to Israel and the US as a “resistance” front. “Since assassinating the Quds force commander, Trump has threatened to strike 52 sites in Iran, including cultural sites. Trump is no longer threatening the Islamic Republic and its leadership. He’s threatening the land of Iran and its 2,500-year-old culture and history. This has unified the Iranian people and is why the numbers are so big at the funeral.”
“Crazy Trump, don’t think that everything is over with my father’s martyrdom,” she said. Trump has said the US military had drawn up a list of 52 targets, mirroring the number of US embassy hostages held for 444 days after the Iranian revolution, that he would be hit if Americans or US assets were attacked in revenge over Suleimani’s killing.
One of the Islamic Republic’s major regional goals, namely to drive US forces out of neighbouring Iraq, came a step closer on Sunday when the Iraqi parliament backed a recommendation by the prime minister for all foreign troops to be ordered out of the country. His comments have drawn criticism both at home and abroad and alarm in Iran, where thousands of people have tposted pictures of cultural sites on social media in protest.
“Despite the internal and external difficulties that we might face, it remains best for Iraq on principle and practically,” said the Iraqi caretaker prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, who resigned in November amid anti-government protests. Such action by the US could be considered a war crime under international law, but Trump has since reiterated his initial comments. “They’re allowed to kill our people. They’re allowed to torture and maim our people. They’re allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we’re not allowed to touch their cultural sites? It doesn’t work that way,” Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One on the way to Washington from Florida on Sunday.
Iraq’s rival Shia leaders, including those opposed to Iranian influence, have united since Friday’s attack in calling for the expulsion of US troops. At Suleimani’s funeral, speakers repeatedly told the crowds that the commander’s death would not go unavenged. In a fiery address, Zeinab Suleimani, his daughter, said: “America and Zionism should know that my father’s martyrdom will lead to … a dark day for them and flatten their homes. Crazy Trump, don’t think that everything is over with my father’s martyrdom.”
Esmail Qaani, the new head of the Quds Force, the Revolutionary Guards’ unit in charge of activities abroad, said Iran would continue Suleimani’s path and said “the only compensation for us would be to remove America from the region”.
Adding to tensions, Iran said it was taking another step back from commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal with six major powers, a pact from which the US withdrew in 2018.
Washington has since imposed tough sanctions on Iran, describing its policy as “maximum pressure” and saying it wanted to drive down Iranian oil exports – the main source of government revenues – to zero.
Talking to reporters onboard Air Force One on the way to Washington from Florida on Sunday, Trump stood by his remarks to include cultural sites on his list of potential targets, despite drawing criticism from US politicians.
“They’re allowed to kill our people. They’re allowed to torture and maim our people. They’re allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we’re not allowed to touch their cultural sites? It doesn’t work that way,” Trump said.