Published by
Al-Araby
Al-Araby
On 3 January 2022, thousands of Iranians took part in a procession through the streets of Tehran commemorating the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, killed two years earlier in a US airstrike in Baghdad. The event appears to be a fixed date in the Iran’s official calendar mobilising supporters through this day of mourning. Soleimani has become a figure lionised in state-sanctioned hagiographies, achieving a saint-like status among regime loyalists. “For the Iranian regime, Soleimani’s story perfectly fitted with a narrative that legitimised its own rule over the masses” Arash …