Iraqis mourn Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, both killed in 2020 US drone strike

(2 Jan 2025)
IRAQ SOLEIMANI MEMORIAL

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

LENGTH: 1:59

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Baghdad, Iraq - 2 January 2025
1. Various of people gathered by the spot at Baghdad airport that was hit by the 2020 U.S. airstrike that killed Iran's Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was the architect of Iran’s regional military activities
2. Remains of mangled vehicle hit in the U.S. airstrike in 2020
3. People taking pictures mangled vehicle
4. Various of symbolic funeral held for Soleimani and others killed in the attack
5. Soldiers carrying Iraqi flags and flags of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of primarily Shiite, Iran-backed armed groups
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Haydar Sultan, participant:
"The crime of assassination was a blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty. The Iraqi skies and land were violated through the execution of the assassination inside Baghdad International Airport. In fact, all diplomatic and legal norms say that airports are considered an internationally protected zone and no military action is permitted inside them. (Donald) Trump breached this rule and did not inform the Iraqi government of any (imminent) military operation."

7. Various of people throwing flower petals on wall with damage from shrapnel marks
8. Picture of Soleimani, who headed Iran's elite Quds force
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Aziz Ali, participant:
“Tonight, most of the Iraqis are commemorating the painful memory of the martyrdom of Haj Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Haj Qassim Soleimani by the occupying forces and by the treacherous and unjust American forces. Today, we are demanding the that Iraqi government expels the American forces from Iraq, so the Iraqi people can live freely.”

10. Various of people lighting candles by image of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was the deputy commander of PMF and image of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike last year
11. Candles
12. Various of Iraqis chanting during memorial for the slain figures
STORYLINE:
Hundreds of Iraqis marked on Thursday the fifth death anniversary of Iran's Gen. Qassem Soleimani and veteran Iraqi militant Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, both of whom were slain in a 2020 U.S. airstrike.

Most of the people who attended the symbolic funeral were members of the Iran-backed militias in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, in which al-Muhandis served as deputy commander.

A U.S. drone strike killed Soleimani, al-Muhandis and others as they traveled from Baghdad’s international airport on Jan. 3, 2020.

Mourner stood at the site on the Baghdad airport road that was hit by the airstrike, which killed Soleimani and al-Muhandis.

"The crime of assassination was a blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty. The Iraqi skies and land were violated," said Haydar Sultan, a mourner.

Soleimani was the architect of Iran’s regional military activities and is hailed as a national icon among supporters of Iran’s theocracy.

For Iranians backing the country’s theocracy, whose icons since the Islamic Revolution have been stern-faced clergymen, Gen. Qassem Soleimani represented a popular figure of national resilience in the face of four decades of U.S. pressure.

For the U.S. and Israel, he was a shadowy figure in command of Iran’s proxy forces, responsible for fighters in Syria backing President Bashar Assad and for the deaths of American troops in Iraq.

Solemani survived the horror of Iran’s long war in the 1980s with Iraq to take control of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, responsible for the Islamic Republic’s campaigns abroad.









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