A stampede at the funeral for a top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, killed more than 30 people and injured dozens more on Tuesday in the southeastern city of Kerman, state television reported.
“Unfortunately, due to extraordinary overcrowding, more than 30 people have lost their lives and dozens of others have been injured,” the report said.
Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Force, were killed by a drone strike as their convoy was leaving Baghdad International Airport on Friday morning.
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Mahdi said Soleimani was on his way to meet him when the US airstrike killed the Iranian general.
Washington claims the assassination of Soleimani was an act of self-defence justified by his planning of attacks on American citizens.
Tehran called it international terrorism and vowed to avenge the popular military officer.
In the wake of the attack, the US advised all American civilians to leave Iraq.
The US-led coalition troops in Iraq have also suspended all training operations and hunkered down at fortified bases, bracing for retaliatory strikes.
