Soleimani's daughter, Zeinab, directly threatened an attack on the U.S. military in the Mideast while also warning President Donald Trump, whom she called “crazy.”
"The families of the American soldiers ... will spend their days waiting for the death of their children," she said to cheers.
Her language mirrored warnings by other Iranian officials who say an attack on U.S. military interests in the Middle East looms.Iranian state television and others online
shared a video that showed Trump's American flag tweet following Soleimani's killing turn into a coffin, the “likes” of the tweet replaced by over 143,000 "killed."
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei prayed over the caskets of Soleimani and others at Tehran University after a brief mourning period at the capital's famed Musalla mosque, The mosque was where prayers were said over the body of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, after his death in 1989.
Khamenei, who had a close relationship with Soleimani and referred to him as a “living martyr,” broke down four times in tears while offering traditional Muslim prayers for the dead.
“Oh God, you took their spirits out of their bodies as they were rolling in their blood for you and were martyred in your way,” Khamenei said as the crowd wailed. Soleimani will be buried Tuesday in his hometown of Kerman.
Soleimani's successor, Esmail Ghaani, stood near Khamenei's side as did President Hassan Rouhani and other leaders in the Islamic Republic. While Iran recently faced nationwide protests over government-set gasoline prices that reportedly led to the killing of over 300, Soleimani's death has brought together people from across the country's political spectrum, temporarily silencing that anger.
Demonstrators burned Israeli and U.S. flags, carried a flag-draped U.S. coffin or displayed effigies of Trump. Some described Trump himself as a legitimate target.
Another mourner, Azita Mardani, warned that Iran “will retaliate for every drop of his blood.”
“We are even thankful to (Trump) because he made us angry and this fury will lead to shedding of their blood in the Persian Gulf and the region’s countries,” Mardani said. "Here will become their graveyard.”
Ghaani made his own threat in an interview shown Monday on Iranian state television. "God the Almighty has promised to get his revenge, and God is the main avenger. Certainly actions will be taken," he said.
Markets reacted Monday to the tensions, sending international benchmark Brent crude above $70 a barrel for some of the day and gold to a seven-year high. The Middle East remains a crucial source of oil, and Iran in the past has threatened the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all the world's oil traded passes.
Ghaani, a longtime Soleimani deputy, has now taken over as the head of the Revolutionary Guard's Quds, or Jerusalem, Force, answerable only to Khamenei. Ghaani has been sanctioned by the U.S. since 2012 for his work funding its operations around the world, including its work with proxies in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen.
Those proxies likely will be involved in any operation targeting U.S. interests in the Middle East or elsewhere.
Already, the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia warned Americans “of the heightened risk of missile and drone attacks.” In Lebanon,
the leader of the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah said Soleimani’s killing made U.S. military bases, warships and service members across the region fair game for attacks.
"We promise to continue down martyr Soleimani's path as firmly as before with help of God, and in return for his martyrdom we aim to get rid of America from the region," Ghaani said.
The head of the Guard's aerospace program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, suggested Iran's response wouldn't stop with a single attack.
“Firing a couple of missiles, hitting a base or even killing Trump is not valuable enough to compensate for martyr Soleimani's blood.”
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Where is buddy who said the Iranians were planning on taking out Soleimani cuz he had too much power and the regime wanted him out? AP reporting at least one million mourners hit then streets of Tehran. The Ayatollah crying over this dudes body four times like a goddamn widow, in the same Mosque they did prayers for the FIRST Ayatollah.