Soleimani's remains arrive in Iran

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Tehran, Jan 5 (IANS) The remains of Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US airstrike, has arrived in Iran, where he will be laid to rest later this week.

A massive funeral procession was held on Sunday morning in Ahvaz, the main city in Iran's eight-year battle against the forces of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein which shaped Soleimani's future as an austere military tactician, the Tehran-based Press TV said in a report.

From Ahvaz, the procession will head to the holy city of Mashhad later in the day and from there to Tehran and finally reach Soleimani's hometown Kerman where his burial will be held on Tuesday.

Along with Soliemani's remains, the body of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Front (PMF) who was also killed in the Friday airstrike, was also brought to Iran for DNA testing, Press TV reported.

After the testing, Muhandis's remains will be returned to Iraq's Najaf city for burial.

On Saturday, a huge crowd of mourners, waving Iraqi and militia flags and chanting "death to America", in Iraq's capital Baghdad participated in a funeral procession held for both Soleimani and Muhandis.

Besides Baghdad, people also took to the streets of the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala.

A total of 10 people -- five Iraqis and five Iranians -- were killed in the January 3 airstrike, which was ordered by US President Donald Trump, that hit their motorcade just outside Baghdad airport.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani have vowed to retaliate against the US over Soleimani's death.

The airstrike came after Iraqi protesters on December 31 stormed the US embassy compound in Baghdad to protest the American air raids conducted on December 29 against five bases of Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria, claiming the lives of 25 people.

--IANS

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