‘Death to America’ chants as thousands mourn Soleimani, Iraq militia leader

Tens of thousands have marched in Iraq to mourn Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes.

The funeral procession of Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes winds through the central Iraqi city of Karbala on Saturday. Picture: AFP

With shouts of “Death to America”, tens of thousands of people have marched in Iraq to mourn Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and an Iraqi militia leader who were killed in a US airstrike that has raised the spectre of wider conflict in the Middle East.

On Saturday evening, a rocket fell inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone near the US embassy, another hit the nearby Jadriya neighbourhood and two more rockets were fired at the Balad air base north of the city, but no one was killed. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

With security worries rising after Friday’s drone strike, the NATO alliance and a separate US-led mission suspended their programs to train Iraqi security and armed ­forces, officials said.

“The safety of our personnel in Iraq is paramount. We continue to take all precautions necessary,” a NATO spokesman said.

Major General Soleimani, commander of the revolutionary guards’ foreign legions was killed in the US drone strike on his convoy at Baghdad airport. Iranian-backed Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes was also killed.

The attack took Washington and its allies, mainly Saudi Arabia and Israel, into uncharted territory in their confrontation with Iran and its proxy militias across the region. Gholamali Abuhamzeh, a senior commander of the revolutionary guards, said Tehran would punish Americans “wherever they are in reach”, and raised the prospect of possible attacks on ships in the Gulf.

Protesters take to the streets in Tehran on Saturday. Picture: AP

The US embassy in Baghdad urged American citizens to leave Iraq. Dozens of American employees of foreign oil companies left the southern city of Basra on Friday.

Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah militia warned Iraqi security forces to stay away from US bases in Iraq, “by a distance not less than a thousand metres starting Sunday evening,” reported Lebanese al-Mayadeen TV, which is close to Hezbollah.

The US has been an ally of the Iraqi government since the 2003 US invasion to oust dictator Saddam Hussein, but Iraq has become more closely allied with Iran.

The top candidate to succeed Mohandes, Hadi al-Amiri, spoke over the dead militia commander’s coffin: “The price for your noble blood is American forces leaving Iraq forever and achieving total national sovereignty.”

The Iraqi parliament was to hold an extraordinary session during which a vote to expel US troops could be taken as soon as Sunday.

General Soleimani, 62, was Iran’s pre-eminent military leader — head of the revolutionary guards’ overseas Quds Force and the architect of Iran’s spreading influence in the Middle East.

Mohandis — real name Jamal Jaafar Ibrahami — was the deputy commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces umbrella body of paramilitary groups.

A PMF-organised procession on Saturday carried the bodies of General Soleimani and Mohandes, and those of others killed in the US attack, through Baghdad’s Green Zone.

Mourners included many militiamen in uniform for whom Mohandes and General Soleimani were heroes. They carried portraits of both men and plastered them on walls and armoured personnel carriers in the procession. Chants of “Death to America” and “No No Israel” rang out. Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi also attended.

Donald Trump said General Soleimani had been plotting imminent attacks on US diplomats and troops. Democratic critics said the US President’s action was reckless and risked more bloodshed in a dangerous region.

The drone strike followed a sharp increase in US-Iranian hostilities in Iraq since last week when pro-Iranian militia attacked the US embassy in Baghdad after a deadly US air raid on the Kataeb Hezbollah militia, founded by Mohandes. On Friday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said General Soleimani’s death would intensify Tehran’s resistance to the US and Israel.

Reuters