Thousands of people chanted against Israel and the United States at Friday’s funeral for seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals, who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Syria.
Guards chief General Hossein Salami warned that Israel “cannot escape the consequences” of Monday’s strike, which levelled the five-storey consular annex of the Iranian embassy in Damascus.
Friday’s ceremony coincided with annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day commemorations, when Iran and its allies organize marches in support of the Palestinians.
Quds Day rallies also took place in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Bahrain.
Iran said that two individuals among the dead were brigadier generals from the Guards’ foreign operations arm, the Quds Force, Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi and Mohammad Reza Zahedi.
The coffins of the seven were placed on the trailers of two trucks in one of the largest squares in Tehran.
Mourners held Iranian Palestinian and Hezbollah flags, chanting “Death to Israel!” and “Death to America!”
Israel ‘Will Be Punished’
Ziyad al-Nakhalah, leader of Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, attended the funeral, Iran’s Fars news agency reported. President Ebrahim Raisi and his predecessor Hassan Rouhani were also present.
IRGC chief Salami said that Tehran was determined to make Israel pay for the raid. “The Zionist regime cannot escape the consequences of the harm it does,” he said, adding, “It is exposed and knows very well what is going to happen.”
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Israel “will be punished” for the killings.
“It is quite clear that America has been one of the principal actors in the war continuing,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Friday.
IRGC chief Salami also denounced Washington in his speech.
“The Zionist regime is alive and well today because of artificial support from the United States. When this is withdrawn it will collapse, and this is near,” he said.
After Friday’s funeral ceremony in Tehran, Zahedi will be buried in his home city of Isfahan in central Iran.
Quds Day Rallies
Quds Day solidarity rallies with the Palestinians were held across the region, AFP correspondents reported.
Hundreds marched in Yarmuk refugee camp in Damascus, including members of Islamic Jihad, many of them chanted, “Jerusalem we are coming.”
In Baghdad, pro-Iran groups organized a rally that drew around 2,000 people who gathered on Palestine Street chanting, “No to America, no to Israel.”
An Israeli flag was painted on the ground so that protesters could trample it.
Thousands rallied in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which is controlled by Iran-backed rebels.
In Bahrain, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020, opposition groups organized pro-Palestinian rallies in several areas.
With AFP
