Soleimani's body to reach Iran after Iraq funeral processions
The body of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US airstrike ordered by President Donald Trump, will reach Tehran after funeral processions in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and the cities of Najaf and Karbala, a media report said.
Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad Iraj Masjedi said the funeral procession for Lieutenant General Soleimani, who was the head of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), would be held in Baghdad on Saturday, the Tehran-based Press TV said in the report.
Speaking on Friday, Masjedi said that in a meeting with Iraq's Caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, he had been told that Iraqis had insisted that a funeral procession take place in the Iraqi capital on Saturday.
Masjedi said that the procession would honour Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Front (PMF), who was also killed in the Friday airstrike.
Iran's Deputy Ambassador to Baghdad Mousa Tabatabaie told the state-run IRNA that funeral processions for Soleimani would also be held in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.
Soleimani's body will arrive in Iran, where a ceremony will be held in the holy city of Mashhad.
According to Iran's Mehr News Agency, a funeral procession for the IRGC commander will also take place in Tehran on Sunday morning, during which Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei will participate in a prayer ceremony.
The body will then be taken for burial in the city of Kerman, Soleimani's birthplace, the report said.
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