‘Revenge, revenge’: the Iran street mourns Qassem Soleimani

Black-clad mourners packed Iran’s Mashhad as the remains of general Qassem Soleimani were paraded through the streets.

A million people turn out as the remains Qassem Soleimani and those killed alongside him make their way through Mashhad. Picture: AP

Black-clad mourners packed Iran’s second city Mashhad on Sunday as the remains of Qassem Soleimani were paraded through the streets after he was killed in a US strike.

“Iran’s wearing black, revenge, revenge,” they chanted as darkness fell and they followed a truck carrying Major General Soleimani’s coffin towards the floodlit Imam Reza shrine.

The mourners threw scarves on to the roof of the truck so that they could be blessed by the “blood of the martyr”.

The 62-year-old’s remains had been returned before dawn to the southwestern city of Ahvaz, where the air resonated with Shia chants and shouts of “Death to America” during a procession.

People held aloft portraits of General Soleimani, one of the country’s most popular figures who was a hero of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

Tens of thousands turn out to follow the funeral cortege in Ahvaz on Sunday. Picture: AP

The “million-man” turnout in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, forced the cancellation of a Sunday night ceremony in Tehran, said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who urged citizens instead to attend a memorial on Monday at Tehran University.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has vowed “severe ­revenge” and declared three days of mourning.

Former revolutionary guard chief Mohsen Rezai threatened to turn the Israeli cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv “to dust” if Mr Trump carried out his threat to bomb 52 Iranian cultural sites, which Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted would be “a WAR CRIME”.

“I doubt they have the courage to initiate” a conflict, said Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi.

Iran’s communications minister, Mohammad Javad Jahromi, branded Mr Trump a “terrorist in a suit” in a Twitter post.

In Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah, the head of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, insisted the “price” for General Soleimani’s killing would be attacks on “US military bases, US warships, each and every officer and soldier in the region”.

Iranian deputies chant ‘Death to America’ in parliament in Tehran. Picture: AP

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his country, a key US ally, “will not lament” General Soleimani’s death, but he agreed in talks with the leaders of France and Germany to work together to reduce tensions in the Middle East, a German spokesman said.

“Iran in particular is urged to exercise restraint in the current situation,” he said, adding that the leaders agreed that de-escalation “is now urgent”.

In Tehran, deputies chanted “Death to America” for a few minutes during a regular session of parliament. “Trump, this is the voice of the Iranian nation, listen,” said Speaker Ali Larijani.

General Soleimani’s remains and those of five other Iranians killed in the drone strike arrived at Ahvaz airport before dawn.

With them were the remains of Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, the commander of the Kataeb Hezbollah militia, who was also killed in the strike.

General Soleimani’s remains are to be flown to the capital, where Ayatollah Khamenei is due to pray over them at Tehran University on Monday before being taken to the holy city of Qom for a ceremony at Masumeh shrine, ahead of a funeral on Tuesday in his hometown Kerman.

AFP