Iran president vows vengeance 3 years after general’s death

Iran’s president on Tuesday vowed to avenge the killing of
the country’s top general on the third anniversary of his death, as the
government rallied its supporters in mourning amid months of anti-government
protests.
Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the architect of Iran’s regional
military activities, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in neighboring Iraq. He
is hailed as a national icon among supporters of Iran’s theocracy, while the
protesters have torn down billboards and defaced other images of him.
Addressing a ceremony marking the general’s death, President
Ebrahim Raisi said those behind it “should know that retaliation is obvious,”
adding that “there will be no relief for murderers and accomplices.”
He said Soleimani had defeated “U.S. hegemony” and praised
him for his role in leading Iran-backed forces against the Islamic State
extremist group. Soleimani was also mourned in neighboring Iraq alongside Abu
Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi militia leader killed in the same strike.
Iranian-backed militias make up the bulk of Iraq’s state-supported Popular
Mobilization Forces.
Iran responded to the killing of Soleimani by launching a
barrage of missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq, causing dozens of brain concussion
injuries but no deaths among U.S. soldiers stationed there. Iranian officials
have repeatedly vowed to take further steps and imposed sanctions on
individuals accused of taking part in the operation.
On Monday, Iran’s state-linked Jam Jam newspaper published
the names and photos of 51 Americans it said were involved in the strike and
were “under the shadow of retaliation.” The list included several current and
former senior U.S. civilian and military officials as well as individuals who
appeared to be soldiers involved in aircraft maintenance at regional bases.
Raisi accused the U.S. of waging a “hybrid war” against
Iran, referring to the protests. Iranian officials have accused the U.S. and
other foreign powers of fomenting the latest unrest in the country, without
providing evidence.
Iran’s judiciary said Tuesday that it had indicted two
French nationals and a Belgian, without providing further details. Iran is
holding a number of foreigners and dual nationals on charges of endangering
national security or taking part in protests. Rights groups accuse Iran of
denying them due process and using them as bargaining chips with the West,
something Iranian officials deny.
The protests, which were ignited by the death of a young
woman in mid-September who was being held by Iran’s morality police for
allegedly violating the country’s strict Islamic dress code, quickly spread
across the country and show no sign of letting up.
The demonstrators say they are fed up with decades of social
and political repression and are calling for the overthrow of the ruling
clerics. The protests mark one of the the biggest challenges to Iran’s
theocracy since the 1979 revolution that brought it to power, and rights groups
say security forces have used live fire, bird shot and tear gas to disperse
them.
At least 516 protesters have been killed and over 19,000
people have been arrested, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group
that has closely monitored the unrest. Iranian authorities have not provided an
official count of those killed or detained.
The semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported that a member
of the Revolutionary Guard was gunned down on Tuesday outside his home. It did
not report a motive but said the man had been active in the paramilitary
Revolutionary Guard and the Basij militia, which has been spearheading the
violent crackdown on the protests.
Soleimani, who led the elite Quds Force of Iran’s
Revolutionary Guard, was credited with helping to arm, train and lead armed
groups across the region, including the Shiite militias in Iraq, the Lebanese
Hezbollah, and fighters in Syria, the Palestinian territories and Yemen. The
U.S. held him responsible for the deaths of many of its soldiers in Iraq.
Within Iran, Soleimani is closely associated with an Islamic theocracy that the
protesters view as violent and corrupt.