Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday the United States committed a "grave mistake" in killing Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and US President Donald Trump responded on Twitter, writing that if Tehran attacks American assets, the US will strike "very hard and very fast."The US has a list of 52 Iranian targets, Trump tweeted. The number was chosen to match the number of hostages taken in the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy.
Rouhani said earlier Americans would face consequences for killing Soleimani "not only today, but also in the coming years."
Mourners chant 'Death to America' at funeral procession
In Iraq's capital on Saturday, thousands of people attended a funeral procession, mourning Soleimani and al-Muhandis as they chanted "Death to America."
Mourners surround a car carrying Qasem Soleimani's coffin on Saturday in Baghdad.
Mourners wept as they walked alongside the vehicle carrying his coffin down the streets of Baghdad. Some carried signs that read, "We are all Muhandis and Soleimani."
Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi was among the crowd of mourners walking next to the cars carrying the coffins.
Some women carrying flags of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, which al-Muhandis commanded, erupted into tears when the slain commanders were mentioned. Many mourners said the attack strengthened their resolve to expel US forces from Iraq.
"This strike killed our heroes, but it created a thousand more Hajji Soleimanis and Muhandises," said Assifa Abbas, 50, a mother of three PMF fighters. "If Parliament doesn't vote to expel US troops, they will see the true face of the Iraqi street."
Abbas walked in the procession with an image of al-Muhandis and Soleimani taped on her black chador. She said she would refuse to allow her sons back into her house until they pushed the "last American" from Iraq.
Former Parliament member Fawzi Akram, from Iraq's Turkmen ethnic minority, predicted the attack would end US dominance in the country. "The map of a new Iraq will be drawn with the blood of these martyrs," Akram said.
Mourners wave flags Saturday in Baghdad.
Mourner Mohammad al-Fadli said the assassinations came as an "indescribable shock." "These are the people who got rid of ISIS for us," al-Fadli said.
The PMF -- Shia militia first mobilized in 2013 to confront the advance of ISIS -- were key ground forces in the early days of an offensive to push ISIS out Iraq, eventually recapturing several towns from the extremist group. Soleimani was reported to be on the ground directing battles against ISIS in Iraq, as well as Syria. CNN London
