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Funeral of Qasem Soleimani

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The funeral of Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was held from 4 to 7 January 2020 in some cities in Iraq and Iran – including Baghdad, Karbala, Najaf, Ahvaz, Mashhad, Tehran, Qom, and his hometown Kerman.

Funeral of Qasem Soleimani
Date4–7 January 2020
VenueSome cities of Iraq and Iran
Mourners at Azadi Square, Tehran, Iran, 6 January 2020
Funeral of Soleimani in Ahvaz, Iran, 5 January

The funeral ceremony of Soleimani in Tehran was described as "the largest in Iran since the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini", founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in 1989.[1][2][3] On 7 January 2020, a stampede took place at the burial procession in Kerman, killing at least 56 mourners and injuring over 200.[4] Consequently, Soleimani's burial was delayed due to the massive crowds.[4][5] The BBC reported that millions of mourners gathered in Soleimani's funeral on 6 January.[6]

Soleimani's body was buried in his hometown of Kerman on Wednesday, 8 January, just hours after Iran attacked two US bases in Iraq in retaliation for his death.[5][7]

Iraq

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On 5 January, a funeral procession for Qasem Soleimani was held in Baghdad with thousands of mourners in attendance, waving militia and Iraqi flags[8] and chanting "death to America, death to Israel".[9] The procession started at the Al-Kadhimiya Mosque in Baghdad. Iraq's prime minister, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, and leaders of Iran-backed militias attended the funeral procession.[10] Soleimani's remains were taken to the holy Shia cities of Karbala and Najaf.[11]

Iran

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Mashhad and Ahvaz

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Iranian State TV estimated that there were millions of mourners in Mashhad and Ahvaz on 5 January.[1] According to ABC, more than a million gathered in Ahvaz.[12]

Tehran and Qom

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Ali Khamenei leading Salat al-Janazah, the Islamic funeral prayer. Others pictured include Hassan Rouhani, Ebrahim Raisi, Ali Larijani, Hossein Salami, Esmail Qaani and Ismail Haniyeh.

CNN described the number of mourners who participated in the Tehran funeral with "a sea of people" on Monday. Iranian State TV reported estimates of millions of mourners in attendance. The mourners had Soleimani's photos in their hands, screamed "down with the USA" and "death to the USA".[13] BBC reported millions of mourners.[6]

Satellite imagery released by Maxar showed that gathered people stretched from "Azadi Square and for nearly 6 kilometres [3.7 miles] along Azadi Street in central Tehran" on 6 January morning.[14] Associated Press journalists estimated "a turnout of at least 1 million" in Tehran.[1]

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led the funeral prayer (Salat al-Janazah) of Soleimani and other victims of the U.S. airstrike.[13][15][16] President of Iran Hassan Rouhani and other officials took part to funeral prayer. General Esmail Qaani cried over his coffin.[13]

Kerman

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The grave of Qasem Soleimani, Kerman

According to France24, the number of mourners attending the funeral procession in Kerman, Tehran, Qom, Mashhad, and Ahvaz were roughly the same.[17] The BBC stated that there were widespread chants of "death to America" and "death to Trump".[18] During Ayatollah Khomeini's 1989 funeral procession, eight people were killed in a stampede, also caused in part due to difficulty in containing the massive crowd.[19]

Soleimani had asked prior to his death to be buried next to his wartime comrade Mohammad-Hossein Yousefollahi.[20] He asked for a simple gravestone "similar to [his] shahid comrades" and with the inscription "Soldier Qassem Soleimani" (سرباز قاسم سلیمانی), without any honorific title.[21][22]

Stampede and burial cancellation

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On 7 January 2020, a stampede crush took place at the burial procession for Soleimani in Kerman, killing at least 56 mourners and injuring more than 200.[4] Head of the burial committee Mehdi Sadafi told the state-run ISNA news agency that Soleimani's burial was cancelled after the deaths.[4]

Reactions

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Commenting on photos of the huge crowds in Tehran's funeral, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran Javad Zarif tweeted: "Do you still imagine you can break the will of this great nation and its people? End of malign US presence in West Asia has begun."[13]

Anniversary

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Commemoration ceremony (anniversary) of "Qasem-Soleimani", in Tehran

There have been held commemoration ceremonies by the name of "Commemoration-Ceremony (Anniversary) of Martyr Qassem-Soleimani" both in person and virtually (via web conferencing) in the cities of the Islamic Republic of Iran[23][24][25] and several countries, such as Oman, Iraq, Syria and Portugal.[26][27][28][29][30][31] According to Fars News Agency, the anniversary of the commemoration of Qasem Soleimani, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and their colleagues was held with the presence of local and foreign officials in University of Tehran, Iran.[32][33]

Legacy

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Attendance for the Tehran funeral service of Soleimani would even stand noticeably higher than that of the May 2024 Tehran funeral service which was held for the eight victims of the 2024 Varzaqan helicopter crash which included both Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.[34]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Rogers, James (6 January 2020). "Satellite images show Soleimani funeral crowds thronging streets of Tehran". Foxnews. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  2. ^ Fassihi, Farnaz; Kirkpatrick, David D. "Khamenei Wants to Put Iran's Stamp on Reprisal for U.S. Killing of Top General". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  3. ^ Birnbaum, Michael; Cunningham, Erin; Dadouch, Sarah. "Soleimani's funeral procession in Iran sees massive crowds and calls for revenge". washington post. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d Safi, Michael (7 January 2020). "Iran: dozens dead in crush at Suleimani burial procession". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  5. ^ a b Yeung, Jessie (8 January 2020). "Soleimani buried in hometown hours after Iran retaliation". CNN. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  6. ^ a b Millions turn out in Iran for General Soleimani's funeral - BBC News, retrieved 25 December 2021
  7. ^ "FarsNews Agency - Mythical Gen. Soleimani Buried After Reprisal". en.farsnews.com. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  8. ^ "Qasem Soleimani: Mourners gather in Baghdad for funeral procession". BBC News. 4 January 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  9. ^ O'Brien, Amy (4 January 2020). "Thousands march in Baghdad funeral procession for Qassem Suleimani—video". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  10. ^ Safi, Michael (4 January 2020). "Qassem Suleimani: chants of 'death to America' at Baghdad funeral". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  11. ^ Ibrahim, Arwa. "'You never let us down': Thousands mourn Soleimani in Baghdad". aljazeera. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  12. ^ Millions gather across the Middle East to mourn Iranian general Qassem Soleimani | ABC News, retrieved 25 December 2021
  13. ^ a b c d Berlinger, Joshua; Mackintosh, Eliza (6 January 2020). "Iranians mourn slain general". CNN. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  14. ^ "Maxar Technologies on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  15. ^ TABNAK, تابناک | (6 January 2020). "گریه رهبری حین نماز میت سردار سلیمانی". fa (in Persian). Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  16. ^ "Imam Khamenei leading the funeral prayer for the heroes of the Iranian nation and the world of Resistance". Khamenei.ir. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  17. ^ "Thousands in Iran gather to mourn as Soleimani's body arrives in hometown of Kerman". France24. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  18. ^ "Stampede kills 50 at Soleimani's burial in Iran". BBC News. 7 January 2020.
  19. ^ "Stampede kills 56 at funeral for Iranian general slain by US". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 7 January 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  20. ^ "کرمان| وصیت‌نامه سردار سلیمانی در مورد سنگ مزارش چه بود؟+ تصویر- اخبار استانها - اخبار تسنیم - Tasnim". خبرگزاری تسنیم - Tasnim.
  21. ^ "طبق وصیت‌نامه، سنگ مزار سردار سلیمانی را آماده خواهیم کرد". ایسنا. 4 January 2020.
  22. ^ "توضیحات مدیر بنیاد شهید کرمان درباره سنگ مزار شهید سلیمانی | نظر همسر سردار چیست؟". همشهری آنلاین. 4 January 2020.
  23. ^ The commemoration ceremony of the first anniversary of Martyr Soleimani and his comrades began ilna.news, Retrieved 1 January 2021
  24. ^ Images / Commemoration of the anniversary of the martyrdom of General Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis hawzahnews.com, Retrieved 1 January 2021
  25. ^ Commemorating the first anniversary of the martyrdom of General Soleimani in different parts of Sistan and Baluchestan Archived 6 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine iribnews.ir, Retrieved 1 January 2021
  26. ^ The anniversary of the martyrdom of General Soleimani was held on the Syrian-Iraqi border + Images hawzahnews.com, Retrieved 1 January 2021
  27. ^ A webinar in honor of General Shahid Soleimani was held in Portugal irna.ir, Retrieved 1 January 2021
  28. ^ Commemoration of the anniversary of the martyrdom of General "Qassem Soleimani" in "Bokmal" Syria[permanent dead link] irinn.ir, Retrieved 1 January 2021
  29. ^ Commemoration of the anniversary of Martyr Haj Qassem Soleimani in Oman irna.ir, Retrieved 1 January 2021
  30. ^ Commemoration ceremony of Soleimani and Al-Muhandis martyrs in Diyala tasnimnews.com, Retrieved 1 January 2021
  31. ^ Commemoration ceremony of General Shahid Soleimani in Damascus irna.ir, Retrieved 1 January 2021
  32. ^ The beginning of the first anniversary of the martyrdom of General Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis farsnews.ir, Retrieved 1 January 2021
  33. ^ The beginning of the first anniversary of General Soleimani tabnak.ir, Retrieved 1 January 2021
  34. ^ Gambrell, Jon (22 May 2024). "Iran's supreme leader prays for late president and others killed in helicopter crash". Associated Press. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
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