Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Statue erected to honor slain Iranian commander torched hours following unveiling

It comes just days after the second anniversary of the assassination of Qassem Soleimani in Iraq by a U.S. drone on Jan. 3, 2020.

Banners featuring Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani on the road in Beirut leading to the Rafik Hariri International Airport in January 2020. Source: An-Nahar.
Banners featuring Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani on the road in Beirut leading to the Rafik Hariri International Airport in January 2020. Source: An-Nahar.

Hours after Iran erected a statue to honor the slain Iranian commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force Qassem Soleimani, unknown assailants burned it, Iranian media reported on Thursday.

The statue was erected on Wednesday morning in the southwestern city of Shahrekord. By the evening, it was torched, reported AFP.

It comes days after the second anniversary on Monday of the assassination of Soleimani in Iraq by a U.S. drone on Jan. 3, 2020.

“This treacherous crime was carried out in darkness, just like the other crime committed at night at Baghdad airport” where the Iranian general was killed, said senior cleric Mohammad Ali Nekounam in a statement reported by ISNA news agency.

Iran has unveiled various memorials for the slain general.

In related news, The Jerusalem Post reported on Monday that its website, and the Twitter account of the Hebrew paper, Maariv, had been breached by pro-Iranian hackers.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said Nika Soon-Shiong’s five-year board term expired as it reviews whether Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives were misclassified as journalists killed in Gaza.
“Blaming Israel for the rise in antisemitism on the political left and in the Democratic Party specifically is classic narcissistic behavior,” Jim Walsh, chair of the state’s Republican Party, told JNS. “It’s what abusive husbands do to battered wives.”
“President Trump picked the right person for the job,” Rep. Tim Walberg stated, citing Sonderling’s record at the department and efforts to combat Jew-hatred in the workplace.
“He’s tried to find that middle ground, where he can give a wink and a nod to those kinds of very violent extremist rhetoric, but without being forced to condemn it,” David May, of FDD, told JNS.
Robinson De La Cruz Hilario told authorities that his posts praising Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen and depicting a firearm and imagery associated with neo-Nazi groups were intended to instill fear.
Speaking on behalf of the E5, the French envoy to the global body said that those bidding for construction contracts in Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem risk “legal and reputational consequences.”