Protesters hijack Iran’s commemorations of death of General Qassem Solaimani

An Iraqi woman holds a picture of Qassim Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis during a demonstration on the first anniversary of a US drone attack that killed the two men. 

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Iranian commemorations of Sunday’s anniversary of the death of General Qassim Soleimani were hijacked by protestors who branded the late Revolutionary Guards commander a "murderer".

The Iranian embassy in Turkey was forced to halt a Zoom commemoration half way-through, when online participants began to shout “murderer Iran” and changing usernames to “murderer Soleimani”, according to a video shared on social media by an NGO advocating for a democratic Iran.

The guests for the event included Iranian Ambassador to Ankara, Muhammed Ferazmend, the vice president of Turkey’s Islamist Saadet party, and prominent writers and lawyers. It was advertised by the embassy with an open Zoom ID for anyone to join, organisers apparently not anticipating the protests from the Iran Democratic Association.  

In Baghdad, where the assassination took place, tens of thousands of Iraqis were estimated to have taken to the streets in Tahrir Square on Sunday following a call from the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), the umbrella name for the Iran-backed militias in the country.

Carrying photos of Mr Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis — an Iraqi deputy of the PMF who also died in the strike — the supporters demanded the full withdrawal of US forces in Iraq.

On Saturday night, a mock funeral procession was attended by thousands of mourners as they marched towards Baghdad airport, where the strike hit the vehicle Mr Soleimani was travelling in.

The US airstrike that killed Gen. Soleimani and al-Muhandis almost brought all-out conflict between the US and Iran. On the anniversary, the region has been on high alert over the possibility of Iranian retaliation for the killing, as Donald Trump’s term as US president nears its end.

On Saturday, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, General Hossein Salami, vowed to respond to any “action the enemy takes”.

Mr Soleimani had helped direct wars in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, architecting a Shi’ite axis of power across the Middle East. The West saw him as the main hand behind Iran’s campaign of international terrorism, and the mastermind of proxy wars against Western forces in the region.

Commemorations also took place across Lebanon and Yemen led by Iranian-backed Shi’ite forces.