Iran buried the slain commander of the country’s Quds forces on Tuesday after a delay caused by a deadly stampede in his home city as tens of thousands jostled for position at the funeral procession.
More than 50 were killed and 212 wounded in Kerman, the semi-official news agency ISNA cited the emergency services chief in the southeastern city Mohammad Saberi as saying.
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Iranian mourners gather for the burial of slain top general Qasem Soleimani in his hometown Kerman. AFP -
Iranian mourners gather for the burial of slain top general Qasem Soleimani in his hometown Kerman. AFP -
Iranian mourners gather for the burial of slain top general Qasem Soleimani in his hometown Kerman. AFP -
Iranian mourners gather for the burial of slain top general Qasem Soleimani in his hometown Kerman. AFP -
Iranian mourners gather for the burial of slain top general Qasem Soleimani in his hometown Kerman. AFP
Thousands packed the hometown of Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Suleimani for the procession after he was killed on Friday in a US strike near Baghdad international airport in an operation that shocked Iran.
Anxious Iranians gathered outside a city hospital to check the lists of victims or show doctors pictures of their missing relatives.
"The enemy killed him unjustly," the Revolutionary Guards' top commander, Major General Hossein Salami said, adding the process of "expelling the United States from the region has begun".
"Our will is firm. We also tell our enemies that we will take revenge, and that if they (strike again) we will set fire to what they love," he told the sea of black-clad mourners.
Schoolgirls joined chants of "Death to Trump" from the crowd.
Tuesday's funeral comes after days of processions through the south-west city of Ahvaz and the shrine cities of Qom and Mashhad as well as the capital Tehran.
The assassination of Suleimani set off an escalating war of words between Iran and the United States.
In Tehran, President Hassan Rouhani on Monday warned Trump to "never threaten" Iran, after the US leader issued a US strike list of 52 targets in the Islamic republic.
On Tuesday, Iranian lawmakers voted to designate all US forces around the world "terrorists" over Suleimani's killing.
Parliament also agreed to bolster the coffers of the Quds Force, which Suleimani led, by $244 million.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday defended the strike saying, “it was the right decision... The president made an entirely legal and appropriate choice."
In Kerman, people converged from afar on Azadi Square where two flag-draped coffins were on display, with the second one reportedly containing the remains of Suleimani's closest aide, Brig Gen Hossein Pourjafari.
"We're here today to pay respects to the great commander of the holy defence," said one of the mourners who came from the southern city of Shiraz.
"Haj Qasem was not only loved in Kerman, or Iran, but also the whole world," Hemmat Dehghan told AFP.
"The security of the whole world, Muslims, Shiites, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and especially Iran, all owe it to him," said the 56-year-old war veteran.
Another mourner said Suleimani's assassination "boils the blood of the Iranian people".
"He was seen as a great man who was ready to serve his people both then in the war and now. He must certainly be avenged," said Sara Khaksar, an 18-year-old student.
Friday's assassination of Suleimani, 62, heightened international concern about a new war in the volatile Middle East.
