Iran Pays Tribute to Gen. Soleimani on 2nd Anniversary of Martyrdom
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – People in Iran took part in commemorative services across the country on Monday to mark the second anniversary of martyrdom of Lt. General Qassem Soleimani, the popular commander assassinated in a US strike in Baghdad.
The ceremony in honor of the top Iranian commander in Tehran was held at the Grand Musalla (prayer hall).
President Ebrahim Raisi delivered a speech to the gathering in the capital.
People in Kerman, the hometown of General Soleimani, also attended rallies and commemorative ceremonies to pay tribute to the popular figure.
General Soleimani and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) were targeted along with their companions on January 3, 2020, in a terrorist drone strike authorized by Trump near Baghdad International Airport.
Five days later, in a military operation codenamed Operation Martyr Soleimani, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) launched a volley of ballistic missiles at the Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq’s western province of Anbar and at another airbase in Erbil in the Kurdistan Region. Over 100 American troops were later diagnosed with “traumatic brain injuries” in Ain al-Asad.
Iran has called Soleimani’s assassination state terrorism and vowed to put an end to the US military’s presence in the region as its ultimate revenge, while urging neighboring Iraq to expel US forces from the Arab country’s soil. The Islamic Republic has also pledged to bring all the perpetrators, first and foremost Trump, to justice.
In recent days, people in Iran, Iraq, and elsewhere have been attending events marking the second anniversary of the two commanders’ martyrdom.
