Millions of people, chanting "Death to America and "Death to Israel," are holding the funeral processions for the commander and his companions in the capital city.
The United States terrorist forces assassinated Lt. General Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s pro-government Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) — better known as Hashd al-Sha’abi — in an airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport early on Friday.
The bodies of the martyred commander and his Iranian companions were first transferred to the Iranian cities of Ahvaz and Mashhad, where massive funeral processions were held on Sunday. The cortege arrived in Tehran Monday morning, and will be heading to the holy city of Qom and finally to his hometown Kerman in the southeast for burial on Tuesday.
Both Soleimani and Muhandis were popular figureheads putting a stop to the rise of ISIL terrorism which once came as close as 30 km to Baghdad, while the US withdrew troops from Iraq and did nothing to stop the terrorists' advances.
The assassination has triggered a wave of outrage among Iranians and Iraqis, and further aligned the two neighbors with vociferous calls for revenge for what they view as "state terrorism."
Iran's Supreme National Security Council said in a statement that a harsh vengeance "in due time and right place" awaits criminals behind Soleimani's assassination.
MNA