Qassem Soleimani, leader of Iranian Quds Forces, was assassinated at Baghdad International Airport in Iraq, on Thursday. His body reached Iran, early Sunday morning. The body of the deceased army leader was flown to south-western Iranian city of Ahvaz, where thousands of mourners, dressed in black, marched through the city.
Suleimani's body will be taken to his hometown Kerman for burial
His body would then be taken to Mashhad later Sunday, then to Tehran and Qom on Monday for public mourning processions. On Tuesday, he would be taken to his hometown Kerman, for burial. Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini has declared three days of mourning.
Soleimani was the architect of Iran's middle-east policy, with its proxies fighting from Yemen to Lebanon. It's yet to be seen how Iran would retaliate to this major escalation. A red flag was unfurled on the dome of Iran's revered Jamkaran mosque, in the Shi'ite Holy city of Qom. According to Iranian tradition, the red flag denotes severe battle to come.
General Gholamali Abuhamzeh threatened to attack '35' American targets
On Saturday, a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard, General Gholamali Abuhamzeh threatened to attack '35' American targets. He had said, "The Strait of Hormuz is a vital point for the West and a large number of American destroyers and warships cross there. Vital American targets in the region have been identified by Iran for a long time ago. Some 35 US targets in the region, as well as Tel Aviv, are within our reach".
To this, the US President Donald Trump threatened to attack on '52' Iranian sites, including its cultural sites, in case of Iranian retaliation. In a later tweet, the President said that "United States just spent Two Trillion Dollars on Military Equipment. If Iran attacks an American Base or any American, we will be sending some of that brand new beautiful equipment their way...and without hesitation."
The threats come a day after the US President, in a press briefing, said that the attack was carried out to 'stop a war and not to start one'.
