'
Unknowns
' set fire to a sculpture of Qassem Soleimani erected the day before in southwest Iran in honor of the powerful general killed in early 2020 in a US raid on Iraq, Iranian media reported Thursday January 6.
"
The statue of the general, which was unveiled yesterday morning (Wednesday) (...) in Shahrekord (capital of) the province of Chahar Mahall-Bakhtiari, was set on fire in the evening in a shameful act committed by unknown persons
", Isna News Agency reported.
To read also In Beirut, the inauguration of a statue of Qassem Soleimani divides the inhabitants
Head of the Quds Force - the elite unit in charge of the external operations of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of Iran - Soleimani was killed on January 3, 2020 in an American drone attack on his convoy near the Baghdad airport.
Since his elimination, the Iranian authorities have erected several sculptures in many cities of the country to immortalize his memory.
"
A rude and insulting act against the statue, erected on the occasion of the general's second birthday
," reported iribnews, the state television website.
"
This crime committed cowardly in the darkness of the night resembles the other crime also committed at night (near) the Baghdad airport
," the provincial imam Mohammad-Ali Nekounam wrote in a message. posted by Isna.
Praised as a symbol of national unity, commemorations have been held since Friday in Iran to mark the anniversary of Soleimani's death and a "
missile capabilities
" exhibition is scheduled for January 7.