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| Weeping supreme leader heads vast crowds mourning Suleimani in Iran | Weeping supreme leader heads vast crowds mourning Suleimani in Iran |
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| Tensions rise as hundreds of 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 |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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”. | 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 phrase “God willing we’ll receive the news that Tel Aviv has been turned into dust very soon” blared from loudspeakers. | The phrase “God willing we’ll receive the news that Tel Aviv has been turned into dust very soon” blared from loudspeakers. |
| 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.” | 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.” |
| The huge processions to mourn 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. | |
| “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?” | “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?” |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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”. | 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”. |
| “Many countries owe their existence to [Suleimani]. Syria, Iraq and Yemen would collapse without him,” one elderly man in the crowd said. | “Many countries owe their existence to [Suleimani]. Syria, Iraq and Yemen would collapse without him,” one elderly man in the crowd said. |
| “We’re all followers and will follow his way. His mission will be accomplished someday with the liberation of Palestine,” a woman said. | “We’re all followers and will follow his way. His mission will be accomplished someday with the liberation of Palestine,” a woman said. |
| “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. | “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. |
| “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.” | “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.” |
| 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 would be hit if Americans or US assets were attacked in revenge over Suleimani’s killing. | |
| His comments have drawn criticism both at home and abroad and alarm in Iran, where thousands of people have posted pictures of cultural sites on social media in protest. | |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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.” | 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.” |