generalspeaking

The Middle East in Chaos, The World on Tenterhooks

"Thirty-five vital American positions in the region are within the reach of the Islamic Republic, and Tel Aviv."
"The Strait of Hormuz is a vital thoroughfare for the West, and a large number of American destroyers and warships cross the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf."
Brig.Gen Golamali Abuhamzeh, Iran

"Iran has been nothing but a problem for many years."
"Let this serve as a warning that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites [reflecting the 52 American hostages taken by Iran during the storming, siege and takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979], some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, will be hit very fast and very hard. The USA wants no more threats."
American President Donald Trump

"We have increased security and defensive measures at the Iraqi bases that host anti-ISIS coalition troops."
"Our command places protection of U.S. forces, as well as our allies and security partners in the coalition, as the top priority; we remain vigilant and resolute."
U.S.-led military coalition against the Islamic State group

Iraqi forces taking security measures last Tuesday after an assault on the US Embassy in Baghdad.

Murtadha Sudani/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Members of Iraqi security forces were warned by Kataib Hezbollah, one of a number of Iraqi militias acting as Iranian terrorism proxies, to keep their distance from American military bases in Iraq. This was the militia that had planned and led supporters in a violent siege of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad after Iraqi security had allowed them to enter the confines of the heavily guarded and hardened Green Zone where foreign embassies, aid groups and government offices are located.

In Baghdad itself thousands of Iraqis marched in a mourning procession memorializing Iran's powerful Quds Branch of the Iranian Republican Guard Corps Qassem Soleimani's assassination when missiles fired from a U.S. drone hit a vehicle convoy in which he was travelling from Baghdad Airport, with a number of Iraqi Shiite militia members, among them the leader of Kataib Hezbollah. "Death to America, death to Israel", they chanted. "We will take our revenge!"

Mourners attend a funeral ceremony for Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and his comrades, who were killed in Iraq in a US drone strike, in the city of Kerman, Iran, January 7, 2020 (Erfan Kouchari/Tasnim News Agency via AP)

Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the Shiite militia leader, both of whom were buried on Tuesday, were not the only martyrs, aside from the other five militia members hit by the drone's missiles last Thursday. There was a stampede during the Soleimani funeral procession, along the route to Soleimani's hometown Kerman burial destination. Hundreds of thousands filled the streets to mourn the terrorist kingpin, now a martyr. And joining him in martyrdom were 56 mourners , victims of the crush of people, with another 212 injured.

Thousands of people were crammed within a single street, along the poorly planned funeral route.

"The route that they chose was too narrow for this crowd. This is something that could have been prevented", an unnamed Kerman resident, said. "The surrounding alleyways were also blocked for different reasons. There was no way to go back or turn around." This too is what the U.S. and Israel are responsible for, earning further shouts of "Death to the U.S.", "Death to Israel", as civilized nations everywhere are wont to declare.

Iranians, however, have god on their side.

"God the almighty has promised to get his revenge, and God is the main avenger. Certainly, actions will be taken."
"We promise to continue down martyr Soleimani's path as firmly as before with help of God. [The aim is] to get rid of America from the region."
Esmail Ghaani, Soleimani's replacement as head of the IRGC's Quds Brigade

And nor is Ghaani's and Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's promises of vengeance the only ones to generate news after the timely death of the venerated Soleimani, for his daughter Zanab, 28, who happens, quite amazingly, to have American citizenship has announced her own promises of revenge for her sainted father's death. "Families of the American soldiers ... will spend their days waiting for the death of their children. Crazy Trump, don't think that everything is over with my father's martyrdom."

But wait; there's more. A $80-million bounty on the head of Donald Trump. "We are 80 million Iranians", stated a eulogist at the Soleimani funeral. "If each one of us puts aside one American dollar, we will have 80 million American dollars, and we will reward anyone who brings us [Trump's] head with that amount."