A secular enforcer for the Syrian regime and the leader of Hamas were among Iran’s Arab allies at Qassem Suleimani’s funeral in a testimony to his skill in amassing regional clients for Tehran.
Squabbling Shiite players from Iraq were also at Suleimani’s main funeral, which was held in Tehran on Monday for him and his right-hand Iraqi militiaman, Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis.
It was presided over by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and choreographed to show unity between Iran’s Arab, and particularly Iraqi, clients and Tehran.
Suleimani's actual burial will take place on Tuesday in Karman, a city in south-eastern Iran, with Al Muhandis to be buried in the Iraqi town of Najaf on a date that has yet to be announced.
During his long reign as the head of Quds Force, Iran’s foreign operations division, Suleimani transformed the command into one of the powerful positions in Iran.
A US drone attack killed the two men last week after Al Muhandis picked up Suleimani from Baghdad airport.
In the 1980s, Al Muhandis escaped a death sentence in Kuwait for a botched bombing of the US embassy in Kuwait City, which killed five people, none of whom were American.
At the funeral, broadcast live on pro-Iranian TV channels, Khamenei recited a prayer in front of their coffins. It was in Arabic, not Farsi, in a bid to establish or reinforce kinship with the Arab audience watching.
Suleimani was aware of the usefulness of psychological tools in keeping Iran’s diverse group of allies in line, despite their ideological differences, and suspicions of treachery among each other.
He played a major role in propping the Syrian regime, partly through his links with Hezbollah and other Shiite militias under his command. The militias participated in siege warfare and depopulation of Sunni regions of Syria in the past nine years since the revolt against President Bashar Al Assad.
Despite occasionally irking Russia, Suleimani expanded Iran’s influence among Syria’s security apparatus.
A top security lieutenant of Mr Al Assad, Ali Mamlouk, was at the funeral, making a rare public appearance.
He is in charge of overseeing the regime’s external clients, a role that declined after Hamas’s leadership left Syria in 2012 and moved mostly to Qatar.
Hamas, a Sunni group, found it unpalatable to maintain public support for Mr Al Assad as the regime was killing thousands of Sunni civilians in its response to the pro-democracy protest movement.
But Hamas kept its strong ties with Tehran and was represented at the funeral by its chief, Ismail Haniyeh. Hezbollah said it dispatched its deputy leader Naim Qassem to Iran to meet Suleimani’s family.
After offering his condolences, Mr Qassem told Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV channel that Suleimani “was not just for Iran, but for all the Islamic world”.
Suleimani had focused on Iraq in the months before his killing, prodding the country’s Shiite elite to coalesce to intensify the crackdown on the Iraqi uprising, killing hundreds of civilians in the process.
As Iran’s main player in Iraq, Suleimani adopted an approach similar to former Syrian president Hafez Al Assad’s tutelage of Lebanon, where Al Assad’s motto was “we are friends to all in Lebanon”.
Among Iraq’s Shiite figures, Suleimani cultivated broad ties and backed rivals who fought each other but all sought his favour.
In September, Suleimani met populist Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr in Iran. Mr Al Sadr was a younger rival of Mr Al Muhandis who proclaimed himself as “leader of the resistance” after the killing.
It was a rare instance when the meeting was made public, with Suleimani appearing together with Mr Al Sadr and Mr Khamenei in a picture released by Mr Khamenei’s office.
The image was a message to Mr Al Sadr’s rivals that he remained an important Iranian ally, although Iran trusted Mr Al Muhandis more. His support by Iran goes back to the late 1970s.
Mr Al Sadr visited Suleimani’s home to pay his respects to the Iranian commander's family. But Mr Sadr was not at the Tehran funeral, where Ammar Al Hakim, a competitor from a rival family in Najaf, showed up.
Even Iraq’s Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, the country’s highest Shiite authority, sent a condolence letter to Mr Khamenei.
Mr Al Sistani has opposed the crackdown on the uprising, a policy supported by Suleimani, with news reports suggesting he had partly overseen the killings of Iraqi demonstrators.
The letter, which exalted Suleimani’s “unique role” in fighting ISIS, said: “We are distressed by the news of the martyrdom of the great General Hajj Qassem Suleimani”.
More on animal trafficking
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Pakistanis%20at%20the%20ILT20%20
%3Cp%3EThe%20new%20UAE%20league%20has%20been%20boosted%20this%20season%20by%20the%20arrival%20of%20five%20Pakistanis%2C%20who%20were%20not%20released%20to%20play%20last%20year.%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%0D%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EShaheen%20Afridi%20(Desert%20Vipers)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3ESet%20for%20at%20least%20four%20matches%2C%20having%20arrived%20from%20New%20Zealand%20where%20he%20captained%20Pakistan%20in%20a%20series%20loss.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EShadab%20Khan%20(Desert%20Vipers)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%0DThe%20leg-spin%20bowling%20allrounder%20missed%20the%20tour%20of%20New%20Zealand%20after%20injuring%20an%20ankle%20when%20stepping%20on%20a%20ball.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAzam%20Khan%20(Desert%20Vipers)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EPowerhouse%20wicketkeeper%20played%20three%20games%20for%20Pakistan%20on%20tour%20in%20New%20Zealand.%20He%20was%20the%20first%20Pakistani%20recruited%20to%20the%20ILT20.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMohammed%20Amir%20(Desert%20Vipers)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EHas%20made%20himself%20unavailable%20for%20national%20duty%2C%20meaning%20he%20will%20be%20available%20for%20the%20entire%20ILT20%20campaign.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EImad%20Wasim%20(Abu%20Dhabi%20Knight%20Riders)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EThe%20left-handed%20allrounder%2C%2035%2C%20retired%20from%20international%20cricket%20in%20November%20and%20was%20subsequently%20recruited%20by%20the%20Knight%20Riders.%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
More on animal trafficking
More on Quran memorisation:
How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
More on Quran memorisation:
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
The years Ramadan fell in May
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Teams
India (playing XI): Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami
South Africa (squad): Faf du Plessis (c), Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Rudi Second
Zayed Sustainability Prize
More coverage from the Future Forum
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The five pillars of Islam
More on animal trafficking
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani