Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.
RFL/RE – Thousands of people gathered in Baghdad on January 4 for a funeral procession for a senior Iranian military commander and several others killed one day earlier by a U.S. air strike in the Iraqi capital that has escalated already heightened tensions in the region and Iran warned has “started a military war.”
Many of the participants waved Iraqi national flags or the banners of militias as organizers — including the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) whose deputy commander was killed alongside Iranian Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani — planned a march from the city’s fortified Green Zone toward holy Shi’ite cities of Karbala and Al-Najaf.
Military vehicles carrying the bodies led the procession alongside people waving the flag of the PMF, an Iran-backed militia group.
Some of the mourners shouted chants of “Death to America!”
Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi was among those who joined the march.
Abdul-Mahdi has stayed on atop a caretaker government since his resignation last month amid public protests over government failures and concern at perceived Iranian influence in Iraq, as well as at the political system put in place after the U.S.-led coalition ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Majid Takht Ravanchi, meanwhile said late on January 3 that the attack “in fact was an act of war on the part of the United States and against Iranian people.”
“Last night they started a military war by assassinating by an act of terror against one of our top generals. So what else can be expected of Iran to do? We cannot just remain silent. We have to act and we will act,” Ravanchi told CNN.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned of “severe retaliation.”
Ali Fadavi, a top commander from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), told Iranian state television late on January 3 that the United States “resorted to diplomatic measures…on Friday morning” after the attack. He claimed that the Americans had “even said that if you want to get revenge, get revenge in proportion to what we did,” according to AFP.
U.S. President Donald Trump said that he ordered the attack to “stop a war” and that the slain general had been in the process of organizing “imminent and sinister” attacks on U.S. interests and allies.
Trump’s comments came shortly before new reports out of Iraq suggested that a second drone strike early on January 4 near Camp Taji north of Baghdad had hit the convoy of an Iran-backed militia.
But a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq said early on January 4 that its forces have not conducted air strikes near Camp Taji in recent days.
The Iraqi military later similarly denied that any such attack had taken place.
Trump’s order to strike at Iran’s top general has met with praise from his supporters, concern from his domestic and foreign critics, and calls for an easing of tensions from many in the global community.
“We took action to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war,” Trump said.
“We do not seek regime change in Iran,” he said, but added that the United States knew the location of its enemies and that he was “prepared to take any action that’s necessary,” in particular regarding Iran.
Washington blames Iran-backed militias for attacks on U.S. and Iraqi personnel and sites, including on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which was overrun by pro-Iran groups earlier in the week.
Trump and many in the West also blame Iran for sponsoring terror groups throughout the region, an accusation Tehran has denied.
Analysis: Iraqi Shi’ite Militias ‘Shocked’ By Soleimani’s Killing
WATCH: The U.S. strike that killed Qasem Soleimani has caused shock and confusion among the ranks of Iran-backed Shi’ite militias in Iraq. That’s according to Radio Sawa correspondent Saleem Al-Abbasi.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited conversations with Middle Eastern and other partners in the previous two days, hinting at tensions between Washington and Europe.
“I spent the last day and a half, two days, talking to partners in the region, sharing with them what we were doing, why we were doing it, seeking their assistance. They’ve all been fantastic,” Pompeo told Fox News.
“And then talking to our partners in other places that haven’t been quite as good. Frankly, the Europeans haven’t been as helpful as I wish that they could be.”
Members of the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants have suspended the training of Iraqi security forces amid the heightened tensions, according to announcements by Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden quoted by dpa.
AFP quoted an unnamed U.S. official as saying that the training and assistance had been scaled back.
The German military reportedly said it was a precautionary step to protect soldiers deployed in Iraq under Operation Inherent Resolve, dpa said.
The United States last week sent in some 750 additional troops amid the unrest.
The United Kingdom on January 4 advised its nationals against travel to Iraq or parts of Iran.
Soleimani was head of Iran’s Quds Force, the foreign arm of Iran’s IRGC, and has been blamed for orchestrating deadly attacks throughout the region.
The Quds Force has been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States.
The IRGC, which helps oversee the Quds Force, said Soleimani would be laid to rest on January 7 in his hometown of Kerman after three days of ceremonies across Iran.
The attack also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a deputy commander of the Iran-backed PMF militia in Iraq.
Prior to the official U.S. and Iraqi denials, Newsweek quoted unnamed Pentagon officials as saying that a drone strike targeted the Iman Ali Brigades and that there was a “high probability” that leader Shubul al-Zaidi was killed.
The militia cited an attack but said the convoy was a “humanitarian” mission and that medics, not senior militia leaders, were killed.
The January 3 U.S. strike on one of Iran’s most powerful military leaders raised concerns of potential retaliatory action by Tehran that could lead to a widespread armed conflict.
Iran on January 3 sent a letter to the UN secretary-general and the Security Council stating that Tehran “reserves all of its rights under international law to take necessary measures” in response to the killings.
Analysis: Slain Quds Force Commander ‘Irreplaceable’ For Iran
WATCH: Radio Farda Director Mehdi Parpanchi Says Slain Quds Force Commander ‘Irreplaceable’ For Iran
The United States said it was sending some 3,000 more troops to the Middle East and it urged Americans to immediately leave Iraq amid the raised tensions.
