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Agence France-Presse

Thousands of Iraqis chanting “Death to America” on Saturday mourned an Iranian commander and others killed in a US drone attack that sparked fears of a regional proxy war between Washington and Tehran.
The killing of Iran’s Major General Qasem Soleimani on Friday was the most dramatic escalation yet in spiralling tensions between Iran and the United States, which pledged to send thousands more troops to the region.
Iraqi political leaders and clerics attended the mass ceremony to honour 62-year-old Soleimani and the other nine victim of the predawn attack on Baghdad international airport, including Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday he had decided to “terminate” Iran’s military mastermind to prevent an “imminent” attack on US diplomats and troops.
US taking out Iran’s Soleimani could be Trump’s biggest gamble yet
“We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war,” he insisted.
But the strike – which killed four more Iranian Guards and five members of Iraq’s Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary network – infuriated Iran, whose ambassador to the United Nations, Majid Takht Ravanchi, called it an “act of war” by its arch-enemy.
On Saturday, the Hashed said a new strike had hit a convoy of their forces north of Baghdad, with Iraqi state media blaming the US.
But US-led coalition spokesman Myles Caggins denied involvement, saying: “There was no American or coalition strike.”


Mass ceremonies started in Baghdad on Saturday for Soleimani – a veteran military figure revered as a hero by many in Iran and the region – and the other victims of Friday’s attack.
Iraq’s caretaker premier Adel Abdel Mahdi joined Muhandis associate Hadi al-Ameri, Shiite cleric Ammar al-Hakim, former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki and other pro-Iran figures in large crowds accompanying the coffins.
The coffins were first brought to a revered Shiite shrine in northern Baghdad, where thousands of mourners chanted “Death to America!”
Dressed in black, they waved white Hashed flags and massive portraits of Iranian and Iraqi leaders, furiously calling for “revenge”.
Iran vows revenge after US strike kills top military commander Qassem Soleimani
The crowds headed south to a point near the Green Zone, the high-security district home to government offices and foreign embassies, including America’s.
The remains will later be taken to the Shiite holy city of Najaf to the south, and the remains of the Guards will then be flown to Iran, which has declared three days of mourning.
As head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ foreign operations arm, Soleimani was a powerful figure domestically and oversaw wide-ranging Iranian involvement in regional power struggles.
Soleimani had long been considered a lethal foe by Washington, with Trump saying he should have been killed “many years ago”.
Tehran has already named Soleimani’s deputy, Esmail Qaani, to replace him.
His first order of business was made clear Friday when Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised “severe revenge” for Soleimani’s death.
How the world is reacting to the US killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani
Iraqi paramilitary figures including US-blacklisted Qais al-Khazaali and militiaman-turned-politician Moqtada Sadr have called on their fighters to “be ready”.
And, elsewhere in the region, Lebanon’s Tehran-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah threatened “punishment for these criminal assassins”.
Amid the tensions, the Pentagon said up to 3,500 additional US troops would be dispatched to Iraq’s southern neighbour Kuwait, to boost some 14,000 reinforcements already deployed to the region last year.
There are around 5,200 US troops stationed across Iraq to train Iraqis to fight jihadists.
They have faced a spate of rocket attacks that the US has blamed on pro-Iran factions and which last month killed an American contractor.

On Saturday, a US official said the US-led forces were scaling back operations and refocusing surveillance to watch for new rocket attacks.
“Our first priority is protecting coalition personnel,” the official said, saying there would be only “limited” training and anti-jihadist operations for now.
US citizens were meanwhile urged to leave Iraq immediately and American staff were being evacuated from oilfields in the south.
Abdel Mahdi warned on Friday that the US strike would “spark a devastating war in Iraq”, while President Barham Saleh pleaded for “voices of reason” to prevail.
We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war
Donald Trump
Pro-Iran factions in Iraq have seized on Soleimani’s death to push parliament to revoke the security agreement allowing for the deployment of US forces on Iraqi soil.
Iraqi lawmakers were to convene in an emergency session on Sunday and expected to hold a vote.
Analysts said the US strike, which sent world oil prices soaring, would be a game-changer.
Phillip Smyth, a US-based specialist on Shiite armed groups, described the killing as “the most major decapitation strike that the US has ever pulled off”.
He expected “bigger” ramifications than either the 2011 operation that killed al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden or the 2019 raid that killed IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.


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US-Iran tensions

Thousands of Iranians mourn top commander Qassem Soleimani, killed by US ‘to stop war’

People attend a protest against the killing of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in Tehran. Photo: Xinhua

A boy carries a portrait of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq, prior to the Friday prayers in Tehran, Iran, Friday Jan. 3, 2020. Iran has vowed "harsh retaliation" for the U.S. airstrike near Baghdad's airport that killed Tehran's top general and the architect of its interventions across the Middle East, as tensions soared in the wake of the targeted killing. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Donald Trump takes biggest gamble of his presidency with killing of Iran’s Qassem Soleimani

A boy carries a portrait of Qassem Soleimani in Tehran. Photo: AP

This photo released by the Iraqi Prime Minister Press Office shows a burning vehicle at the Baghdad International Airport following an airstrike in Baghdad, Iraq, early Friday, Jan. 3, 2020. The Pentagon said Thursday that the U.S. military has killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, at the direction of President Donald Trump. (Iraqi Prime Minister Press Office via AP)

Kashmiri Shiite Muslims shout anti American and anti Israel slogans during a protest against U.S. airstrike in Iraq that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, seen in the photographs, at Magam 37 kilometers (23 miles) north of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Jan. 3, 2020. The killing of Iran's top military commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani triggered several anti-U.S. protests in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the protesters also shut down shops and businesses in Magam and Budgam towns in south Kashmir. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Iranians hold pictures of Qassem Soleimani during an anti-US protest in Tehran. Photo: EPA-EFE

Two airlines suspend flights to Baghdad over security concerns after US air strike that killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani

A burning vehicle is seen at the Baghdad International Airport following an airstrike by the US in Baghdad, Iraq, on Friday. Photo: Iraqi Prime Minister Press Office via AP

A burning vehicle at Baghdad International Airport after a US air strike. Photo: Iraqi Prime Minister Press Office via AP

China calls for calm after top Iranian military leader killed in US air strike

Burning wreckage after the air strike near Baghdad airport early on Friday. Photo: AFP

(FILES) A file image grab taken from a broadcast by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) on October 1, 2019, shows Qasem Soleimani, Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General and commander of the Quds Force, speaking during an interview with members of the Iranian Supreme Leader's bureau in Tehran. - A US strike killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and the deputy head of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi military force at Baghdad's airport early on January 3, 2020, the Hashed announced. (Photo by - / IRIB TV / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / HO / IRIB" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS  /NO RESALE/ NO ACCESS ISRAEL MEDIA/PERSIAN LANGUAGE TV STATIONS/ OUTSIDE IRAN/ STRICTLY NI ACCESS BBC PERSIAN/ VOA PERSIAN/ MANOTO-1 TV/ IRAN INTERNATIONAL" /

Iran vows revenge after US strike kills top military commander Qassem Soleimani

Iranian Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani. Photo: AP

Protesters demonstrate over the U.S. airstrike in Iraq that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 3, 2020. Iran has vowed "harsh retaliation" for the U.S. airstrike near Baghdad's airport that killed Tehran's top general and the architect of its interventions across the Middle East, as tensions soared in the wake of the targeted killing. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

FILE PHOTO: Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a commander in the Popular Mobilization Forces, attends a funeral procession of Hashd al-Shaabi (paramilitary forces) members, who were killed by U.S. air strikes in Qaim district, at the Green zone in Baghdad, Iraq December 31, 2019. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani/File Photo

(FILES) This file handout photo released on March 27, 2015 by the official website of the Centre for Preserving and Publishing the Works of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, shows the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force, Gen. Qasem Soleimani, attending a religious ceremony in Tehran to commemorate the anniversary of the death of the daughter of Islam's Prophet Mohammed. - Top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US strike on Baghdad's international airport on January 3, 2020, Iraq's powerful Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force has said, in a dramatic escalation of tensions between Washington and Tehran. (Photo by HO / KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)

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Earlier on Saturday, a fresh air strike hit pro-Iran fighters in Iraq, as fears grew of a proxy war erupting between Washington and Tehran
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei swiftly promised ‘severe revenge’ and protesters torched US flags and chanted ‘death to America’



Earlier on Saturday, a fresh air strike hit pro-Iran fighters in Iraq, as fears grew of a proxy war erupting between Washington and Tehran


Thousands of Iranians mourn top commander Qassem Soleimani, killed by US ‘to stop war’

Earlier on Saturday, a fresh air strike hit pro-Iran fighters in Iraq, as fears grew of a proxy war erupting between Washington and Tehran Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei swiftly promised ‘severe revenge’ and protesters torched US flags and chanted ‘death to America’

Earlier on Saturday, a fresh air strike hit pro-Iran fighters in Iraq, as fears grew of a proxy war erupting between Washington and Tehran

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei swiftly promised ‘severe revenge’ and protesters torched US flags and chanted ‘death to America’