At a public funeral for the useless on Friday, Iran vowed to avenge Israel’s killing of a senior commander and different officers within the elite Quds Force, however didn’t say when or how it will retaliate.
“Our courageous males will punish the Zionist regime,” Hossein Salami, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, advised a crowd attending the funeral in Tehran. “We warn that no enemy’s actions in opposition to our sacred system will go unnoticed and that the artwork of the Iranian nation is to defeat imperial energy.”
Israel on Monday carried out an airstrike on a constructing that’s a part of the Iranian embassy advanced in Damascus, Syria, killing three Quds Force generals and 4 different officers. A division of the Revolutionary Guards, the unit conducts navy and intelligence operations outdoors Iran, typically working carefully with allies akin to Syria, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Hamas, who’re mortal enemies of Israel and the United States. We are collaborating.
Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi and Quds Force commander General Ismail Ghani marched with a crowd of mourners in Tehran on Friday, carrying black civilian garments somewhat than uniforms, state media footage confirmed. Also in attendance have been leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which took half within the Hamas-led assault on Israel on October 7, and leaders of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iranian-backed Shiite militia group in Iraq. .
The coffins of the slain males have been positioned behind a truck draped with Iranian flags and embellished with flowers and inexperienced leaves as they meandered slowly down an extended street in central Tehran, the place 1000’s of individuals had gathered. .
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah gave a video handle in the course of the funeral, which was broadcast in Iran and Lebanon. He stated a response from Iran might come at any time, maybe inside a day or perhaps a month, as a result of Iran is in no hurry.
“Iran’s response to the focusing on in Damascus will inevitably come,” Nasrallah stated.
The night time earlier than, the coffin was taken to the residence of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and positioned in a public corridor, the place Islamic prayers have been stated for the useless over the coffin. Khamenei often bestows such honors on very shut aides or senior officers who’ve been declared “martyrs” as a result of they have been killed by Israel or the United States.
The funeral coincided with the annual gathering of Quds Day, a day of solidarity with Palestinians held on the final Friday of Ramadan in lots of Islamic nations. The crowd chanted “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” and waved Palestinian flags. Video from state media additionally confirmed an offended crowd trampling a portrait of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Quds Day rallies, celebrated in lots of cities throughout Iran, draw households with youngsters and often have a carnival environment. But this 12 months, the occasions seem to have taken on a extra somber tone, overshadowed by funerals, rising tensions with Israel and issues that Iran’s response to the assault might spark battle between the 2 nations.
Hwaida Saad contributed reporting.