Iraqis hold placards as they gather to mark the killing of senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad, Iraq one year ago, January 3, 2021. /CFP
Thousands of Iraqi supporters of Iranian-backed paramilitary groups chanted anti-American slogans in central Baghdad on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the U.S. killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and an Iraqi militia commander.
The Iraqi mourners chanted "revenge" and "no to America" one year after a U.S. drone strike killed Soleimani, head of an elite overseas unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis on January 3, 2020.
Demonstrators, many dressed in black, gathered in central Tahrir Square on Sunday in response to calls from an array of Iran-backed militia groups known collectively as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
They waved the Iraqi and PMF flags and chanted anti-American slogans such as "America is the Great Satan" while carrying the portraits of Soleimani and Muhandis.
PMF head Faleh al-Fayyad and politician Hadi al-Ameri, commander of the Badr Organization militia, who were both at the rally addressing the crowds, called for the expulsion of U.S. troops.
Iraqis light candles to mark the deaths of senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad, Iraq, one year ago, January 2, 2021. /CFP
The death anniversary was also marked across Iran and by supporters in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.
The leader of the Tehran-backed Lebanese organization Hezbollah said in a televised speech on Sunday that Soleimani's killing caused serious repercussions in the region.
"Removing America from the region would not have been a serious and a declared goal that the people in the region must work towards if it weren't for this historical incident," said Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, adding that Iran is strong and capable of responding militarily.
"We are here today to condemn what the American-Israeli enemy had done by targeting the leaders of victory," protester Abu Ahmed said in Baghdad. "We call on the government to take a serious stance to hold those who killed them accountable.”
Reflecting continuing regional strains, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Saturday urged Trump not to be "trapped" by an alleged Israeli plan to provoke a war through attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq.
An Israeli official dismissed the accusation as "nonsense" and said it was Israel that needed to be on alert for possible Iranian strikes.
(With input from Reuters)