Thousands march in Baghdad on Soleimani assassination anniversary
BAGHDAD - A mock funeral procession in Iraq marked the first anniversary of the drone strike near Baghdad by the United States that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Thousands of mourners joined the march on the highway leading to the Baghdad airport on Saturday evening where the strike that killed the two men took place. As the highway remained blocked with cars, demonstrators carrying posters of Soleimani and al-Muhandis adorned both sides of the road lined with tents that served food and drinks for those walking. The scene of the bombing was turned into a shrine-like area sealed off by red ropes, with a photo of Soleimani and al-Muhandis in the middle, as mourners lit candles.
Shrapnel marks were still visible on the asphalt and walls in the area. Soleimani headed Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, responsible for the Islamic republic’s foreign operations and frequently shuttled between Iraq, Lebanon and Syria. His assassination dramatically ratcheted up tensions in the region and brought the US and Iran to the brink of war.
Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, reporting from Baghdad, said more protests were expected across Iraq on Sunday. “The protests are focused on demanding that the Iraqi government put pressure on the Americans to withdraw the remaining soldiers from the country,” he said. “Meanwhile, people on the streets are concerned about any potential escalation or any kind of deterioration in security of this country.” The Baghdad procession came as Iraq’s military said explosives experts with its naval forces successfully dismantled a mine that was discovered stuck to an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf two days earlier.
The statement on Saturday said Iraqi authorities have opened an investigation into the incident. No group has claimed responsibility for placing the mine. Tensions between Tehran and Washington have been rising in the run-up to the first anniversary of top Iranian general’s killing. In a letter to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, Iran condemned US “military adventurism” in the Gulf and the Sea of Oman, and “fake information, baseless accusations and threatening rhetoric” against Tehran. (Al Jazeera)