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A viral video purports to show the temporary coffin holding slain Iranian General Qassem Soleimani placed across multiple seats in the coach section of a Mahan Air plane bound for Iran out of Iraq.
The video, posted by self-described defense analyst, author and freelance writer Babak Taghvaee and picked up by multiple outlets, reportedly shows a temporary coffin holding the remains of Soleimani – the former head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, who was killed in a strategic U.S. airstrike early Friday – being flown out of Iraq back to Iran.
In his caption for the video, Taghvee, who has tweeted extensively on the fallout from the killing of Soleimani, writes: “An Airbus A300-603R of Mahan Air transported corpses of [Qassem Soleimani] & Abu-Mahdi Al-Muhandis from [Masshad] to [Mehrabad] Intl Airport, [Tehran]. Their coffins were put on the passenger seats instead of being loaded in cargo/baggage compartments!”
On a television screen in front of the cardboard coffin plays a “tribute video,” as The New York Post notes. “The recording shot aboard a Mahan Air flight and posted on Twitter appears to show Soleimani’s coffin and those of others killed in the attack on an Airbus from Mashhad to Mehrabad Airport in Tehran — as a tribute video plays on one of the plane’s screens,” the Post reports.
“The coffins bear the images of Soleimani, the leader of the elite Quds Force, and Abu-Mahdi Al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iranian-supported militia group in Iraq,” the Post points out.
The Daily Mail also reported on the video and provided some further details. “A video of the journey posted on social media on Sunday showed five cardboard boxes resting on seats in the cabin of a passenger jet rather than being loaded into the cargo or baggage compartments,” the outlet reports. “Once Soleimani’s remains arrived in the capital, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei prayed over them at Tehran University before he was taken to the holy city of Qom for a ceremony at Masumeh shrine, ahead of a funeral on Tuesday in his hometown of Kerman.”
https://twitter.com/BabakTaghvaee/status/1213928154655539201
Taghvaee has since posted a series of tweets and retweets on the current situation in Iran, including another Soleimani video, this time purportedly showing IRGC personnel “stealing the dirt” from his grave because they believe it is holy.
“Watch [IRGC] Personnel stealing the dirt from grave of [Qassem Soleimani] in [Kerman] because they believe the dust and dirt from that grave is holly and can cure any deceases,” he wrote.
https://twitter.com/BabakTaghvaee/status/1214554938350551041
The authenticity of either of the videos has not been confirmed.
Qassem’s funeral Monday was attended by hundreds of thousands, some on the ground reporting that the theocratic Iranian government threatened citizens to attend. At the event, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei openly cried.
“Oh Allah, they are in need of your mercy, and you are exalted above punishing your servants,” said an emotional Khamenei, standing over Soleimani’s ceremonial casket.
“Khamenei’s voice cracked under the weight of the moment during a funeral procession unlike any in Iran’s recent history,” The Associated Press reported.
The solemn ceremony was followed Tuesday by the slain general’s funeral procession, which turned disastrous when a stampede broke out, resulting in dozens reportedly killed and hundreds injured.
In a statement issued shortly after the strike, the U.S. Defense Department said Soleimani was “actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.” In a separate statement, the State Department, citing “highly credible” intelligence, said in a statement following the strike on Soleimani that he “had been traveling in the Middle East coordinating further imminent large-scale attacks against U.S. diplomats and service members.”
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