Khamenei Leads Prayers at Soleimani Funeral, Ghaani Vows to Get Rid of Americans in Region

Iran

January 6th, 8:52am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei and President Rouhani pray near the coffin of Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in Tehran, Iran, January 6, 2020. (Reuters)

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei led vast crowds in prayers in Tehran on Monday at the funeral of slain military commander Qassem Soleimani, publicly weeping for the general killed by a US drone strike. Iranians poured on to the streets of the Iranian capital to bid farewell to the commander of the Quds Force, the unit in charge of foreign operations of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Khamenei’s voice cracked with emotion as he said prayers, forcing him to pause, state television showed. Soleimani's successor, Esmail Ghaani stood near Khamenei's side, as did Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and other top leaders in Iran. The crowds chanted “Death to America”. One poster held aloft by a mourner read: “It is our right to seek a harsh revenge,” echoing comments by Iranian military and political leaders. The coffins of Soleimani 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 in central Tehran. "We promise to continue down martyr Soleimani's path … and in return for his martyrdom we aim to get rid of America from the region," Ghaani said in an interview with Iranian state television aired Monday. US President 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. 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. Awakening “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,” Zeinab Soleimani, the commander’s daughter, said an address to mourners. Iran usually refers to Israel as the Zionist state and describes regional countries and other forces opposed to Israel and the United States as a “resistance” front. Iran’s allies in the region have also gathered for the funeral, including Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, who told the ceremony: “I declare that the martyred commander Soleimani is a martyr of Jerusalem.” Iranian commanders have issued a range of threats since the US strike at Baghdad airport, although they have not offered any specifics about how they will respond. On Sunday, the Iraqi parliament backed a recommendation by the prime minister for all foreign troops to be ordered out of Iraq. Tehran has often said it would choose the time and place of any retaliation in past standoffs with Washington.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2068841/khamenei-leads-prayers-soleimani-funeral-ghaani-vows-get-rid-americans-region