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Worshiped even after his death: Qassem Soleimani
Photo: Bilal Hussein/AP
Thousands of supporters of the system took to the streets in Iran on the anniversary of Qassem Soleimani's death.
In his hometown of Kerman, crowds of people moved through the city, as reported by state media on Tuesday.
The General of the Revolutionary Guards was killed on January 3, 2020 by a US drone attack in neighboring Iraq.
While the former commander of the elite unit is revered as a hero and martyr by supporters of the system, many Iranians expressed their contempt on the anniversary of his death this year.
In the capital Tehran, for example, banners depicting Soleimani were set on fire or covered with blood-red paint.
The Revolutionary Guards and their aid organizations have also been criticized for their involvement in the violent suppression of the nationwide protests since mid-September.
»Mixture of James Bond, Erwin Rommel and Lady Gaga«
To this day, the political leadership in Tehran swears revenge for the killing of Soleimani.
The "murderers and perpetrators" are sure to "revenge the blood of the martyr Soleimani," said President Ebrahim Raisi at a commemoration event in Tehran attended by thousands of people.
Soleimani, as commander of the Revolutionary Guards overseas unit, had expanded Iranian influence in the region since the 1990s.
For many Shiites in the region, Soleimani was "a mixture of James Bond, Erwin Rommel and Lady Gaga," wrote former CIA expert Kenneth M. Pollack years ago in Times magazine.
Former US President Donald Trump, who ordered the attack on Soleimani three years ago, said at the time he ordered the drone strike in response to a series of attacks on US bases in Iraq.
Soleimani was "actively developing plans to attack US diplomats and military personnel in Iraq and throughout the region," the Pentagon said at the time.
Days after the deadly attack on Soleimani, Iranian forces fired missiles at a US military base in Iraq.
Amid heightened tensions, Tehran also accidentally shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane.
All 176 people on board died in the crash.
dop/dpa/AFP