In pictures: Funeral of Iran's Qassem Soleimani

TEHRAN, IRAN: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led vast crowds in prayers in Tehran on Monday at the funeral of slain military commander Qassem Soleimani, publicly weeping for the general killed by a US drone strike.

Iranians, who state media said numbered in the millions, poured on to the streets of the Iranian capital to bid farewell to the commander of the Quds Force, the unit in charge of foreign operations of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

The scale of the crowds in Tehran shown on television seemed to be the biggest since 1989 for the funeral of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the revolution that set Iran on its political collision cause with Washington.

 

Iranian people attend a funeral procession for Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in Tehran, Iran January 6, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS

 

Iranian people attend a funeral procession for Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in Tehran, Iran January 6, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS PARTY

 

Iranian people attend a funeral procession for Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in Tehran, Iran January 6, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS

 

Iranian people burn American and Israeli flags during the funeral procession for Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in Tehran, Iran January 6, 2020.PHOTO: REUTERS

 

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pray near the coffins of Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in Tehran, Iran, January 6, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS

 

PHOTO: REUTERS

 

Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani, the newly appointed commander of the country's Quds Force, reacts during the funeral prayer of the coffins of Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in Tehran, Iran January 6, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS

 

Iranian people attend a funeral for Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in Tehran, Iran January 6, 2020.PHOTO: REUTERS

 

Iranian people attend a funeral for Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in Tehran, Iran January 6, 2020.PHOTO: REUTERS

 

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pray near the coffins of Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in Tehran, Iran, January 6, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS