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Soleimani’s body to be transferred to Iran after funeral processions in Iraq

Friday, 03 January 2020 6:51 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 26 December 2020 9:57 AM ]

The image shows Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad Iraj Masjedi (R) speaking during a mourning ceremony for Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani (portrait-R) and his assassinated comrades, at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, on January 3, 2019. (By IRNA)

The body of Iranian Commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the United States military early on Friday, is to be transferred to Iran after funeral processions in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and the cities of Najaf and Karbala.

Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad Iraj Masjedi said a funeral procession for Lieutenant General Soleimani, who was the head of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), would be held in Baghdad on Saturday.

Speaking on Friday, Masjedi said that in a meeting with Iraq’s Caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, he had been told that Iraqis had insisted that a funeral procession take place in the Iraqi capital on Saturday, Iran’s official IRNA agency reported.

Masjedi said that the procession would honor Soleimani along with his comrades who were assassinated in a US airstrike earlier on Friday, including Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).

Iran’s Deputy Ambassador to Baghdad Mousa Tabatabaie also told IRNA that funeral processions for Soleimani would also be held in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.

Soleimani’s body will then be transferred to Iran, where a ceremony will be held for the commander in the holy city of Mashhad.

According to Iran’s Mehr News Agency, a funeral procession for the IRGC commander will also take place in Tehran on Sunday morning, during which Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei will participate in a prayer ceremony.

The body will then be taken for burial in the city of Kerman, Soleimani’s birthplace, the report said.

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