Deadly Stampede at Funeral Procession for Iranian General: Live Updates

In a fiery speech made moments before Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani was buried in his hometown, the leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps vowed to “set ablaze” places where Americans and their allies live.

“We will take revenge; a revenge that will be tough, strong, decisive and finishing and will make them regret,” the paramilitary group’s leader, Hossein Salami, said Tuesday in a front of a crowd of mourners. “We will set ablaze the place they like, and they know where it is.”

“Today, the seeds of hatred for the U.S. have been sown in the hearts of Muslims,” he said, according to Fars, an Iranian news agency associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The pledge to seek vengeance echoed the rhetoric of many of the country’s leaders since General Suleimani’s killing on Friday. “Death to Israel,” the crowd chanted back, according to news reports. Israel, a close ally of the United States, has long been an enemy of Iran.

Thousands of mourners, dressed in black and carrying photos of General Suleimani, crowded the central square of Kerman, where the general’s body was taken for burial after a funeral procession Monday in Tehran, the capital.

Before arriving in Kerman, the general’s remains were taken to the holy city of Qom, where thousands of residents came out, hoping for a chance to touch the coffin of a man the state has declared a martyr.

On Monday, Ayatollah Khamenei wept and offered prayers over General Suleimani’s coffin at the massive state funeral. The ayatollah had a close relationship with the general, who was widely considered to be the second most powerful man in Iran.