Qods Force Commander Qassem Soleimani hosted what was almost certainly the most high-profile funeral held this year in Tehran. The funeral for Soleimani’s mother was an unusually public acknowledgment of his increasingly powerful role in the Islamic Republic. Iran’s political and military elite showed up to pay respects to Soleimani, who heads the Revolutionary Guards elite unit.
The Qods Force runs the Islamic Republic’s foreign operations, including in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Lebanon, the Gulf and beyond. The unit is reportedly small, numbering about 12,000. Little reliable information on the force is available. And Soleimani (center) is also one of the most secretive Revolutionary Guards commanders. But in early 2008, Soleimani reportedly sent a message reflecting his power to General David Petraus, who was then commander of Multi-National Forces in Iraq. “You should know that I... control the policy for Iran with respect to Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza and Afghanistan. And indeed, the ambassador in Baghdad is a Qods Force member,” he wrote, according to The Guardian. Soleimani is also widely believed to be one of Iran’s most important foreign policy strategists, with major influence on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The funeral received unusually wide coverage in Iran’s media, which released dozens of pictures of top politicos paying their respects to Soleimani. The attendees were a who’s who of Iran, including former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (right), Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and former Supreme National Security Council secretary Saeed Jalili. Others included current and former cabinet ministers, top clerics, and senior Revolutionary Guards commanders. President Hassan Rouhani, however, did not attend.
Among the photographs released by both the Fars News Agency and the Islamic Students News Agency was one showing Jihad Mughniyeh (right), the son of Imad Mughniyeh, who was the military commander of Lebanon’s Hezbollah before his assassination in a 2008 car bombing. Mughniyeh, who was trained by the Revolutionary Guards and maintained close ties, reportedly had an Iranian wife and spent a significant amount of time in Iran. His son is twice pictured standing close to Soleimani.