Initial reports from Iranian state media indicate that at least 32 people were killed and 190 injured in a stampede during the funeral procession for Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Tuesday. The incident occurred in Kerman, Soleimani’s hometown. Fox News has reported that 40 people are dead and more than 200 are injured. Information is still being gathered and confirmed.
Pirhossein Koulivand, head of Iran’s emergency medical services, said: “Unfortunately as a result of the stampede, some of our compatriots have been injured and some have been killed during the funeral processions,” before later providing the latest casualty numbers, according to Fox News.
The Independent reported that the burial ceremony was canceled as the result of the deaths and that “most of the injured were elderly people who had been going from Azadi Square in Kerman towards Beheshti Street when they got trapped in the huge crowds and died.”
Thousands of mourners have taken to the streets for the funeral of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US airstrike in Iraq on Friday.
At least 35 people were killed in a stampede during the ceremony – read more here: https://t.co/eGQ6uoIZ9B pic.twitter.com/SXsInwJdTi
— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 7, 2020
On Monday, crowds estimated at more than one million gathered in Tehran for funeral prayers. Watch a video clip showing the teeming streets in the Iranian capital …
Video by NBC
From Tehran, the funeral proceeded through the holy city of Qom where another massive crowd gave homage to the body of Soleimani.
Hossein Salami, leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, spoke in Kernan and threatened to “set ablaze” U.S.-related targets in response to the killing of the Iranian general in a drone strike last week. The crowds reportedly shouted, “Death to Israel!”
Fox reported …
The incident draws comparison to the 1989 Tehran funeral procession of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini – whose half-naked remains toppled out of an open coffin live on state television. Mourners blocked the path of a truck carrying the deceased leader of the Iranian revolution and tore at his burial shroud, knocking his body to the ground. The broadcast was cut short and his body airlifted by military helicopter away from the crowd until his remains could be rewrapped in the traditional Muslim burial attire and placed in a metal casket for burial …
Funeral events for the terror leader through the country have served to further inflame and energize emotions among some Iranians. Vows to retaliate against U.S. interests have proliferated and few doubt that there will be attacks by Iranian-backed forces and terror groups.
Iranian state television announced during coverage of the funeral that a bounty of $80,000,000 will be paid to anyone who kills U.S. President Trump … a total they said that would essentially be crowd-sourced to the tune of $1 dollar per Iranian citizen.
Three days ago, Iranian authorities raised a Red Flag of War over The Holy Dome Of Jamkarān Mosque, Qom, signifying an announcement of darkness and pending violent battles.
First Time In The History, Red Flag Unfurled Over The Holy Dome Of Jamkarān Mosque, Qom Iran.
Red Flag: A Symbol Of Severe Battle To Come.#Qaseemsulaimani#قاسم_سليماني pic.twitter.com/B1mcePk4Ri
— SIFFAT ZAHRA (@SiffatZahra) January 4, 2020
Promises of vengeance have come from various official sources.
Members of Iran’s parliament chants “Death to America” pic.twitter.com/xub1mnfOTo
— Jason K. Morrell (@CNNJason) January 5, 2020
Zeinab Soleimani, the “martyr’s” daughter, told the crowd at the funeral event in Tehran: “Families of the American soldiers in Western Asia have witnessed America’s humiliation in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Yemen and the Palestine wars, and will spend their days waiting for the death of their children.”
After President Trump promised to bring down the hammer on any Iranian retaliation against U.S. interests, an Iranian official threatened Israel, seeming to imply the use of nuclear weapons. “If America takes any measure after our military response, we will turn Tel Aviv and Haifa to dust,” said Mohsen Rezai, head of Iran’s Expediency Council, as reported by The Times of Israel.
Some reports have Iranian militias, whipped up in anger, already attacking innocents in the Middle East …
Iran’s respond on Soleimani’s death came now by slaughtering and executing 24 Syrian southeastern Raqqa.
Those innocent people were herding sheep when Iranian militias raided and killed them as revenge to Qasem Soleimani’s death. pic.twitter.com/6wGoReSkSa— Asaad Hanna (@AsaadHannaa) January 5, 2020
and threatening world leaders, even the appeasing variety …
The Iranian threats to the world leaders… pic.twitter.com/aCnrXYKKgU
— Asaad Hanna (@AsaadHannaa) January 6, 2020
Right thinking conservatives in the West know that Trump made the correct call to take out Soleimani in order to head off what was said to be a significant attack on American diplomats.
Lets be clear, Qassem Soleimani was just a uniformed Osama bin Laden, with a state sponsor behind him. He was no different than Abu Musab al-Zarqawi or Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi & was far more capable than all three of them combined. So to all you crying liberals, shove it up your,,,, pic.twitter.com/LLOdRfzY34
— Tetraites, The Regulator of Babylon. (@1776AmericaUSA) January 5, 2020
The size of funeral crowds in authoritarian regimes is not an indication of popular support. In fact, the opposite is true. All those dictatorships are just trying to overcompensate for their lack of legitimacy. Let’s call it Legitimacy Envy. Soleimani’s funeral is no different. https://t.co/Abk6vmt6HQ pic.twitter.com/amyaTa5H63
— Len Khodorkovsky (@MessageFromLen) January 6, 2020
You miss the fact that US diplomats are alive today because @@realDonaldTrump acted on Soleimani. Appeasement is what you did for years – where you ignore the threats because you are afraid Iran will respond. So they continue. And we get Benghazi & the genocide in Syria. https://t.co/kpzLMdm2vo
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) January 5, 2020
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Victor Rantala is an Army vet who lives in Minnesota, he is a former intelligence analyst and business owner, and is an NRA Life member who is officially retired but has yet to slow his roll.
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