Qasem Soleimani funeral: Million-strong homage for general brings Tehran to standstill – see pictures

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Downtown Tehran was brought to a standstill as mourners flooded the Iranian capital to pay an emotional homage to Qasem Soleimani, the general killed in a US strike. Young and old were packed shoulder-to-shoulder in the streets, including women dressed in black-clad chadours and others wearing loose-fitting hijabs. Soleimani, one of Iran's most popular public figures, was killed in a US drone strike on Friday near Baghdad international airport. He was 62. His assassination drove up tensions between arch-enemies Washington and Tehran, which has vowed "severe revenge". (Reuters Photo)

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Iranian mourners gather around the coffin of the Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, who was killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport. (Reuters Photo)

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The streets of Tehran were so full of people that many were unable to emerge from underground metro stations, local media reported. (Reuters Photo)

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Coffins of General Qassem Soleimani and his comrades who were killed in Iraq by a US drone strike, are carried on a truck surrounded by mourners during a funeral procession, in the city of Mashhad, Iran. (AP Photo)

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Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani, the newly appointed commander of the country's Quds Force, kisses a coffin during the funeral prayer over the coffins of Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in an air strike at Baghdad airpor. (Reuters Photo)

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Mourners attend a funeral ceremony for Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and his comrades, who were killed in Iraq in a US drone strike on Friday, at the Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) Square in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo)

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Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has vowed "severe revenge" for the US attack, presided over prayers for the slain general. (Reuters Photo)

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An aerial view shows mourners attending a funeral ceremony for General Qassem Soleimani and his comrades, who were killed in Iraq in a US drone strike, in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, Iran. (AP Photo)

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The sheer number of mourners left many people stuck in sidestreets around Enghelab (Revolution) Street, the main route of a procession to a ceremony at Tehran University. (AP Photo)