Thousands gather in Iran's Ahvaz to mourn Soleimani's killing

Thousands of grieving people gathered in the Iranian city of Ahvaz on January 4 to pay last respects and honour to Iran's Revolutionary Guard's top commander Qassem Soleimani who was killed in US airstrike. As part of the multinational funeral for the 'martyred' Soleimani in an American air raid, people head towards Ahvaz's Molavi Square for his funeral procession. 

The state television showed the live telecast of thousands of mourners dressed in black and held up flags in green, white and red, depicting the blood of 'martyrs'. Many people were reportedly holding the portraits of the general who is seen as a 'hero' of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Soleimani also played a key role in spread heading of Iran's operations in the Middle East as chief of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force. 

The funeral in Ahvaz comes a day after many assembled in black, raised the flags of the powerful paramilitary group Hash al-Shaabi and assembled near the Shia shrine of Kadhimiyya in Iraq to pay respects to Soleimani. The body was then returned to Iran and IRIB reportedly posted a video clip of the casket being wrapped in an Iranian flag being unloaded from the plane. 

Read - Javad Zarif Tweets Pics Of Iraqis Paying Tribute To Soleimani Just After Baghdad Strikes

Trump warns Iran

While anger and grief mounts on thousands of people, the US President Donald Trump said on January 4 that Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani 'made the death of innocent people his sick passion'. Trump, has shrugged the threats from Iran and also said that 'The US wants no more threats'  and that Iran 'will be hit very hard'. Trump had previously said in first comments after te strike that Soleimani was directly or indirectly responsible for many deaths and he had made 'death of innocent people his sick passion'. However, on the contrary, grief and anger has mounted on Iraqis who called Soleimani as 'martyred' and chanted 'Death to America'.  

Read - Pence's Linkage Of Soleimani To 9/11 Hijackers Is Challenged

The speaker for Iran's Revolutionary Guards was captured breaking down after American troops killed Soleimani. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani in a tweet said that 'Iran will take revenge for this heinous crime'. In another statement, Rouhani also said that “there is no doubt that the great nation of Iran and the other free nations of the region will take revenge for this gruesome crime from criminal America”. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also reportedly warned of 'severe revenge for the criminals who bloodied their foul hands with his blood'. Khamenei further also said that Soleimani's work and his path will not be stopped.

Read - Soleimani, Al-Muhandis Coffins Reach Karbala

Read - Mourners In Iraq Grieve For Soleimani, Al-Muhandis

(With agency inputs)