A Million Iranian Mourners to Pay Homage for Soleimani

Tehran, MINA – Downtown Tehran was halted on Monday (6/1) when more than a million mourners flooded the Iranian capital to pay homage to Qassem Soleimani, a “heroic” general who was killed by US attacks.

Young and old crowding shoulder to shoulder on the streets, including women dressed in black-clothed veils and others wearing loose-fitting hijabs, Nahar reported.

Soleimani, one of the most famous public figures in Iran, was killed by a US drone strike on Friday (1/3) near Baghdad international airport. He is 62 years old.

His murder sparked tensions between Washington’s mortal enemies and Tehran, who have vowed to “strong revenge”.

“He is a hero. He defeated Daesh,” said a woman in her 30s, referring to the Islamic State (ISIS) group.

“What America has done is clearly a crime,” said the woman who only gave her last name as Mohammadi.

State television said the number of mourners “several million people”.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei leads the Soleimani corpse prayer.

He was seen crying next to a coffin wrapped in a state flag containing the body of Soleimani and five other soldiers who were also killed in the attack.

The streets in Tehran are so full of people that many cannot get out of the underground metro station, ISNA news agency reported.

“There are a lot of people at the metro station but because there are also large crowds along the road, it is not possible to evacuate passengers,” Metro Chief Farnoush Nobakht said. (T/R7/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)