The memorial service was held in Tehran’s Mosalla (Grand Prayer Grounds) on Thursday night with throngs of people as well as high-ranking government and military officials in attendance.
Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami, Lieutenant Commander of the IRGC Quds Force Brigadier General Esmail Qa’ani, and Deputy Commander of the IRGC for Coordination Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi were among the military officials attending the mourning ceremony that marked the 40th day after the martyrdom of Gen. Soleimani.
General Soleimani, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was the deputy head of Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha'abi (PMU), and a number of their entourage were killed in a strike by American drones near Baghdad International Airport on January 3.
The White House and the Pentagon claimed responsibility for the assassination of General Soleimani in Iraq, saying the attack was carried out at the direction of US President Donald Trump.
In the early hours of January 8, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) targeted the US airbase of Ain al-Assad in retaliation for the US move.