AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): At the first anniversary of the assassination of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and Iraq’s Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, many international figures released messages of commemoration.
Iraq
Iraq, the country where the assassination near the Baghdad International Airport was conducted by the American military, was the setting for the largest scale of reactions made by the political figures and factions. In the most highlighted reaction, Faleh al-Fayadh, the commander of Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), at a commemoration ceremony held in Tehran said: “We own the mourning for the martyr Qassem Soleimani since he was assassinated while he was our guest. The people of Iraq became fond of martyr Soleimani when the region was subject to an operation of elimination of the consciousness. The Iraqi nation recognized the right path of being present in all the [Islamic] ummah issues and on top of them the Palestinian cause. Iraq cannot follow some weak people and will remain beside the Palestinian people. We are indebted to General Soleimani.”
Another message came from Sayed Ammar Hakim, the head of the Iraqi National Wisdom Movement. He said that at the first anniversary of General Soleimani and PMF deputy chief al-Muhandis, Iraq remembers the anti-ISIS commanders, their epic role, and their deep influence on the course of the war against “dark-thoughted terrorism.”
“The US violation of the Iraqi sovereignty along with the high place of the two commanders among their lovers make the assassination felt and remembered with pain not only in their home countries but also foreign countries,” Hakim said.
Also, Mohammad al-Baldawi, the head of the Sadeqoun parliamentary alliance, explained about the huge Saturday rallies in Iraq marking the anniversary.
“The main purpose in these rallies in Baghdad the capital and other Iraqi provinces at the anniversary of the commanders of victory is the expression of opposition to the US military forces in Iraq and would represent a slap on the face of the loser Trump,” he told Al-Malouma news outlet.
Amer Hasan al-Fayadh, the dean of Al-Nahrain School of Political Science, was a guest to the “Salam Sardar”( Hello Commander) TV show. He said that the Westerners have always been fraudulent. They never had specific credibility and honesty. “But they can never block the sunlight,” he added, referring to the inspiring legacy of Quds Force commander.
Palestine
In Palestine, too, political parties and politicians made considerable reactions and posted praising messages. Hamas chief Ziad al-Nakhala in an interview with Lebanon’s broadcaster Al-Mayadeen held that the general was a unique military character.
“He was a character that did not know the borders of the miracles. He used to say that nothing is impossible. He raised the idea of training fighters from Gaza on long-range missiles and this was a great achievement,” he told his TV host.
Osama Hamdan from Hamas, was also a guest to Al-Mayadeen. He said that General Soleimani was not away from the “Forqan battle against the occupying Israeli regime.”
“Martyr Soleimani accompanied the anti-Israeli resistance all the time. He played a great role in uniting the ranks of the mujahideen and resistance fighters in the region against the occupying and overbearing forces. [IRGC chief] General Salami told us that you will have the continuous Iranian support and we trust the Islamic Republic,” Hamdan went on.
Abu Mujahed, the spokesman to the Popular Resistance Committees, also was interviewed by Al-Mayadeen that offered special coverage to the anniversary days before. Abu Mujahed said that General Soleimani was on top of a push that brought the Palestinian resistance to its present equipment and capability. He noted that the general was a great commander and a backer of the Palestinian resistance. “He was targeted because he posed an existential risk to the Zionist regime.”
Syria
In Syria like many other countries, commemorations were arranged for General Soleimani and al-Muhandis. The people of Abu Kamal in the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor arranged a magnificent ceremony honoring the assassinated commander at his first anniversary. Al-Ahd news network of Iraq, reporting from Abu Kamal, said that the people there remembered his liberation of the city from ISIS grasp.
Grand Mufti of Syria Sheikh Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun on the sidelines of the first anniversary of the commanders in Tehran on Friday said: “Our message is that martyr Soleimani did not go to Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Gaza to propagate ideology and thoughts of a specific faith or group. He came to tell us we are a united ummah that the borders do not block our help to each other. Commander Soleimani today is a sign for all who feared and normalized ties with the Israeli regime, telling them that if they were like Iran and defended Palestine as home to the first qibla, now Palestinian was liberated.
Lebanon
In Lebanon, also there were messages from various political and religious leaders to the ceremonies honoring the two commanders.
Sheikh Hessam al-Ilani, the imam of Sunni Muslims of Saida Mosque, at the event in Tehran said that General Soleimani had rights on our neck for all the resistance achievements and victories against the Israelis that improved Lebanon's position from weak to strong. “We are grateful to him. The role of martyr Soleimani in support of the Palestinian resistance is not covert. This is what we heard from the Palestinian resistance leadership,” said Sheikh al-Ilani.
Moreover, Hezbollah put up posters and monuments of General Soleimani and al-Muhandis in the Tal al-Uwaidha protected area in the south of the country. It renamed the area after General Soleimani.
Ali Fayadh, the Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc’s head, in the representation of Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayed Hasan Nasrallah said that the naming comes in appreciation of the diligence of the “historic commander of the resistance hajj Qassem and the long resistant way he walked in opposition of the American-Israeli projects and the takfiri-terrorist ISIS project in the region.”
Sayed Hashem Safi Al Din, Hezbollah executive council’s chief, said in Tehran that the general’s blood still streams into the vessels of the Axis of Resistance. The same axis he created and sacrificed himself for it.
“Trump assumed that with the assassination, the Axis of Resistance will break down. The same resistance General Soleimani fed with his life and blood. He stood on all battlefields. His flag will be flown. The mujahideen will install it atop the Al-Aqsa Mosque dome,” he promised.
Yemen
In Yemen like other countries of the Iran-led Axis of Resistance, people marked the anniversary of the two commanders who were assassinated by American drones at Baghdad International Airport on January 3 by direct order of Donald Trump. The Yemenis emphasized that his path will be continued.
Ansarullah’s Secretary-General Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi in a message to the general’s family asserted that the levels of the anger of the bullies at him bear witness to the large scale of his influence.
“He was a soldier of Islam and was present on all confrontation battlefields. He will live on in the conscience of all free people and for generations to come. He was a soldier of God with a high degree of insight, knowledge, purity, sacrifice, and modesty.
Yemen held a commemoration ceremony on Saturday, Fars News Agency reported from the capital Sana’a.
Al-Masirah TV’s website reported that the ceremony witnessed the presence of Yemeni officials.
In Oman, too, the Iranian cultural consulate in Muscat arranged an anniversary for the commander of Quds Force, a wing of the IRGC. Iranian ambassador to Oman Ali Najafi addressed the event, saying that the secret of lasting of the name of General Soleimani is his modesty, purity of heart, and good behavior with people and his “deal with God”, in addition to his sacrifices.
Pointing to the Islamic Republic’s anti-terror strategy, the ambassador said that if it was not for the general’s sacrifices in battling terrorism and radicalism, we today had this grim and painful phenomenon running rampant across the region and parts of the world.
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