Qassem Soleimani’s coffin ‘brought to Tehran on plane seat rather than in cargo’

Slain military commander Qassem Soleimani’s coffin is being transported back to Iran’s capital Tehrahn on the economy seats of a plane, it is claimed.

Soleimani, commonly thought of as the second most powerful man in Iran, was killed in Iraq in a US drone strike at a convoy at Baghdad airport on Friday.

The military commander was killed alongside Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias in Iraq known as the PMF.

Now a video has been shared on Twitter by Babak Taghvae, who describes himself as defence analyst, showing five coffins placed on seats of a plane – allegedly including the bodies of Soleimani’s and al-Muhandis.

While Mr Taghvae shared the clip, which also shows two men sat in the row in front of the coffins, it isn’t clear who recorded it.

He wrote with his post: “A Mahan Air Airbus A300 carried coffins of Qasem Soleimani & Abu-Mahdi Al-Muhandis to Tehran right on the passenger seats instead of being loaded in cargo hold.”

Commonly bodies are shipped via cargo  planes but it appears Iranian authorities may have decided to put the men on seats as a mark of respect.

It comes after Soleimani’s body was transported through the Iranian city of Mashhad earlier today as part of a grand funeral procession across the Islamic Republic.

Mourners crowded around military personnel in Mashad unloading Soleimani’s casket covered with an Iranian flag from a plane at Ahvaz International Airport in Tehran.

A tide of mourners chanted furiously as his coffin was driven through tens of thousands in the streets of the southwestern city Ahvaz where funeral processions began.

Live footage aired on state TV showed mourners wearing black and beating their chests as they walked through the streets.

Crowds furiously chanted ‘Death to America’ as they paraded the slain military commander.

Iranian leaders have vowed to avenge the death of the 62-year-old, who was esteemed as the country’s second most powerful figure after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The drone strike has been widely condemned by international leaders who fear that diplomatic tensions could escalate into a war with the US. The US regarded Soleimani as a terrorist.

Iran’s Ali Khamenei warned that “a harsh retaliation is waiting” for the superpower

President Donald Trump warned he would use the country’s brand new military equipment to hit Iran even harder than before if Tehran retaliates for the assassination of Soleimani.

Writing on Twitter , Mr Trump, said: “If they attack again, which I would strongly advise them not to do, we will hit them harder than they have ever been hit before!”