TEHRAN, Iran (AP) A stampede broke out today at a funeral for a top Iranian general killed in a U.S. airstrike, and at least 40 people were killed and more than 200 were injured as thousands thronged the procession, two Iranian news agencies reported.
The stampede took place in Kerman, the hometown of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, as the procession began.
There was no information as to what had set off the stampede.
News agencies gave the death toll of 40, with 213 injured.
Soleimanis burial was later delayed, with no new time given. Authorities cited concerns about the massive crowd that had gathered as a reason for the delay, the semi-official ISNA news agency said.
A procession in Tehran on Monday drew over 1 million people in the Iranian capital, crowding both main thoroughfares and side streets in Tehran.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force launched a drill with 52 fighter jets in Utah, just days after President Donald Trump threatened to hit 52 sites in Iran.
Earlier in the day, Hossein Salami, the new leader of Irans Revolutionary Guard, vowed to avenge Soleimanis death.
We tell our enemies that we will retaliate but if they take another action we will set ablaze the places that they like and are passionate about, Salami said.
Salami was referencing President Trumps claim on Sunday that the U.S. would target Iranian historical and cultural sites such as ancient tombs, mosques and temples that are thousands of years old.
Such destruction is considered a war crime according to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.
The funeral processions in major cities over three days have been an unprecedented honor for Soleimani, viewed by Iranians as a national hero for his work leading the Guards expeditionary Quds Force.
Soleimanis slaying already has pushed Tehran to abandon the remaining limits of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers as his successor and others vow to take revenge. In Baghdad, the parliament has called for the expulsion of all American troops from Iraqi soil, something analysts fear could allow Islamic State militants to mount a comeback.
In his eulogy to the crowd, Salami said Soleimanis martydom represents an even greater threat to Irans enemies.
According to a report today by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, Iran has worked up 13 sets of plans for revenge for Soleimanis killing. The report quoted Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council, as saying that even the weakest among them would be a historic nightmare for the U.S. He declined to elaborate,
If the U.S. troops do not leave our region voluntarily and upright, we will do something to carry their bodies horizontally out, Shamkhani said.
