Nation mourns soldier beheaded by Islamic State

TEHRAN — Iran’s supreme leader and thousands of others on Wednesday mourned a young Revolutionary Guard soldier beheaded by the Islamic State group, a killing that has struck a nerve within the Islamic Republic as its forces continue to suffer casualties in Iraq and Syria.

The slaying in Syria of 25year-old Mohsen Hojaji captured the imagination of many in Iran, a Shiite-ruled nation whose national religion considers acts of mourning and acknowledging sacrifices a sacred act.

Since Hojaji’s death, artists and others have memorialized him in videos and paintings, while discussion of his slaying has muted domestic criticism of Iran’s foreign military operations, especially in Syria.

His funeral in Tehran also brought Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who prayed near Hojaji’s Iranianflag-wrapped casket. Mourners later lay flowers atop his coffin, while on the street, soldiers with the paramilitary Guard mixed with men wearing black and women in long black chadors. Many carried drawn portraits of Hojaji, while others unfurled the black flags common during Muharram, a Shiite mourning period.

Politics entered the mourning as well, as a cleric on hand alleged Israel and the U.S. were behind the Islamic State group, drawing cries of “Death to Israel” and “down with the U.S.” from the audience.

Hojaji is one of many Guard members and volunteers who have been killed in Iraq while advising Shiite militias battling the Islamic State group or in Syria, where Iranian forces backed embattled President Bashar Assad. Nasser Karimi is an Associated Press writer.