Iranians hold high-level ceremonies and pay tribute to assassinated Soleimani

While Iran held high-level memorial services to pay tribute to late Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Soleimani spent his whole life defending the oppressed and focusing on efforts to enhance unity among Islamic countries.

Soleimani, then commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), was assassinated at Baghdad airport in a drone strike against his car by the US military on Jan 3, 2020, on the direct orders of then-United States president Donald Trump. People attended events to mark his death in a number of cities in past days.

At a ceremony held on Jan 2 at the Grand Mosalla Mosque in Teheran, to mark the fifth martyrdom anniversary of Soleimani, President Pezeshkian said that Soleimani serves as a perpetual model for "the path we should take" as he practiced piety and "spent his entire life defending the oppressed and serving people".

"He stood up to defend the oppressed in every corner of the world, including in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Afghanistan, regardless of people's religion, personal taste and views," the Iranian president was quoted by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Pezeshkian also described the martyred commander as a symbol of honor for the Iranian nation and Muslims across the world.

On Jan 2, memorial ceremonies for Soleimani were held across Iran to pay tribute to Soleimani and other martyrs who lost their lives fighting against terrorism and defending holy shrines in West Asia, the IRNA reported.

Ordinary people joined top military and state officials at the Grand Mosalla Mosque in Teheran. Participants in the ceremony carried pictures of Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a senior commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) who was martyred alongside Soleimani in the US drone strike.

On Jan 1, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei cited Soleimani's "unique" role in the resistance and fight against terrorism.

"Martyr Soleimani's constant strategy was to revive the Resistance Front," said Khamenei, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported. "If blood is shed for the sake of God, it will not go in vain."

"Events involving martyr Soleimani in the region show the Islamic Revolution is alive," Khamenei added.

The Supreme Leader said if it were not for the endeavors of Soleimani, the fate of all holy sites would have been the same as the damaged shrine of Samarra in Iraq, arguing that the martyrs of the fight against terrorism did not lose their precious lives in vain, the IRNA reported.

"If these lives had not been sacrificed and this struggle had not been fought and Hajj Qassem Soleimani had not moved with such courage in the mountains and deserts of this region and had not taken with him, there would be no holy (shrine) today," Khamenei was quoted by Mehr as saying.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Teheran ceremony, Brigadier General Iraj Masjedi, deputy coordinator of the IRGC's Quds Force, noted Soleimani was an unparalleled international figure in combating terrorism, the IRNA reported.

General Masjedi accused former US president Donald Trump of aiding global terrorism through the assassination of, calling the action the "greatest service to terrorist movements worldwide".

A local Iranian at the Teheran memorial site noted that the United States, exercising state terrorism, is more terrifying than all terrorists, according to China Central Television (CCTV). The US assassinated Soleimani and is now undermining the security of the entire region, he added.

Another local participant at the memorial ceremony said that the US plunders the world to pursue its own interests, CCTV reported. The development of the US has been achieved through the exploitation of smaller countries, he said. Colonialism and exploitation of the US have always existed.

Mike Gu in Hong Kong contributed to this story.