Millions Of Soleimani Mourners Pack Tehran Streets, Chant ‘Death To America And Israel’

Millions of Mourners as estimated by Iranian state TV on Sunday, chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” and waved flags of Iran, Iraq and Lebanon among others, as they marched down Enghelab Street, a main artery of the Iranian capital.

Mourners attend a funeral ceremony for Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and his comrades, who were killed in Iraq in a U.S. drone strike on Friday, at the Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) square in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Jan. 6, 2020. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

In freezing early morning temperatures, women in black walked alongside men holding up flags bearing the names of Shiite imams as they walked down the street toward the university. Some held placards with the slogan “#hard_revenge.”

Clutching portraits of Soleimani, a crowd gathered on the outskirts of Tehran University where Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself prayed over the caskets of Soleimani and others slain in the attack.

Khamenei, who had a close relationship with Soleimani, wept at one point during the traditional Muslim prayers for the dead. The crowd and others wailed.

Esmail Ghaani, Soleimani’s replacement as head of the expeditionary Quds force, stood near Khamenei’s side, as did Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and other top leaders in the Islamic Republic.

In this photo released by the official website of the Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, fourth from left, leads a prayer over the coffins of Gen. Qassem Soleimani and his comrades, who were killed in Iraq in a U.S. drone strike on Friday, at the Tehran University campus, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Jan. 6, 2020. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Soleimani, the country’s most powerful general, was killed in a US drone strike Friday near Baghdad airport in an attack ordered by US President Donald Trump, who said the Quds commander had been planning an “imminent” attack on US diplomats and forces in Iraq.

The funeral procession was broadcast live on state television, with screens bearing a black ribbon across the top left hand corner in a rare tribute.

Soleimani’s daughter, Zeinab, directly threatened an attack on the US military in the Mideast and said that America and Israel faced a “dark day” for her father’s killing, Al Jazeera reported.

“The families of US soldiers in the Middle East will spend their days waiting for death of their children,” she said to cheers from a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Tehran that stretched as far as the eye could see.

“Hey crazy Trump, you are the symbol of stupidity and a toy in the hand of international Zionists,” she added, according to CNN.