Following the torching of Qassem Soleimani‘s statue in Shahrekord by the Resistance Units hours after it was unveiled, in the early morning hours of Thursday, January 7, the Resistance Units in Tehran and other cities set on fire large banners of Qassem Soleimani and Khamenei.
The regime leaders and media reacted frantically to the burning of Soleimani’s statue in Shahrekord. Khamenei’s representative in Shahrekord, Mohammad Ali Nekounam, lamented yesterday: “Telephone rang just before midnight and I received the news that reminded me of the night (Soleimani was killed) when we were in tears… and today his statue was set on fire in the darkness of the night, exactly the same as what happened in the dark of night at Baghdad airport.”
Shahrekord Municipality’s Communications Director said: “Last night, around 8:00 PM, the statue of Qassem Soleimani, unveiled in the presence of provincial officials (earlier in the day), was set on fire. Because it was burned so badly, it was impossible to repair it, so the municipality had to stay until 2:00 AM to clean and transport it to the warehouse.”
By organizing a government-orchestrated protest in Shahrekord, the regime tried to make up for the blow it had received. IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency quoted its reporter as saying, “This is Shahrekord. Last night, the statue of Haj Qassem (Soleimani) was set on fire by the MEK. Now, we have come to report the feelings of the people.” Nevertheless, the people ignored the theatrics and except for a group of Revolutionary Guards, members of the paramilitary Bassij, and a few paid agents, no one joined the event, causing further disgrace for the mullahs.
Qassem Soleimani played a key role in the massacre and genocide in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria. He directed the Iranian regime’s terrorist operations and its mercenaries against the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK/PMOI) in Camps Ashraf and Liberty in Iraq and oversaw the massacre of 52 members of the MEK in Ashraf on 1 September 2013. On 1 January 2022, Ali-Akbar Salehi, the regime’s former foreign minister and former head of its atomic energy agency, pointed out Soleimani’s key role in the Iranian regime’s foreign policy and the appointment of its ambassadors. Salehi said, “We coordinated in the appointment of ambassadors to Libya and Tunisia (with Soleimani) because of the special circumstance in there required special ambassadors. They needed to be both diplomats and also have a field (i.e., terrorist) background.”
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
January 7, 2022
