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The Daily

Why Iran Is in Mourning

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 7 January 2020

⏱️ 26 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The killing of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, Iran’s most formidable military and intelligence leader, displayed the fault lines in a fractious region. From Iraq to Israel, many victims of the commander’s shadow warfare celebrated his death; but in Tehran, thousands filled the streets to grieve. Today, we explore who General Suleimani was, and what he meant to Iranians. Guest: Farnaz Fassihi, a reporter covering Iran for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Background reading:As we break down how religious differences have fueled conflict in Iraq and Iran, here’s a refresher on the distinction between Sunni and Shia Islam. At General Suleimani’s funeral, a senior military leader vowed to set America “ablaze.” But it remains uncertain how, or even whether, Iran will strike back.President Trump and his defense secretary have said different things about how the United States might respond to any Iranian retaliation. One of our Interpreter columnists is struggling to see a deeper strategy.Dozens of American citizens of Iranian descent have been detained while trying to enter the United States. “My kids shouldn’t experience such things,” one woman said after being held overnight upon return from a ski trip in Canada. “They are U.S. citizens. This is not O.K.”

Transcript

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0:00.0

From the New York Times, I'm Michael Bavaro. This is the Daily.

0:09.4

Today, in the streets of Tehran,

0:12.5

Iranians are mourning the loss of General Cosum Sulamani.

0:18.9

Michael, for Nas Visi, on what they feel they've lost.

0:24.0

It's Tuesday, January 7th.

0:40.4

Monday morning was the start of the official state funeral for General Cosum Sulamani.

0:46.0

The war is the war of Shilot.

0:52.0

By 8am, there were millions of people out in downtown Tehran.

0:56.0

He was being celebrated as a national hero but also as a religious martyr and a saint.

1:08.0

There were families, there were men, women, children.

1:10.0

They had the symbolic, Shia ritual, symbols out, feathers, swords, drums, music,

1:18.0

eulogies, songs.

1:26.0

And the crowd also had a very anti-American and defiant mood.

1:32.0

People were sad but they were also very angry.

1:36.0

We heard a lot of revenge, revenge and no more negotiations with the US.

1:40.0

It's time for battle, chanted by the crowd.

1:48.0

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamanai,

1:50.0

recited the Muslim prayer of the dead on General Sulamani's coffin.

1:56.0

In the middle of the prayer, several times, he paused and openly cried.

2:12.0

And the crowd also wept very loudly with him.

2:18.0

As a reporter who's covered Iran for over 25 years,

2:22.0

what struck me was that the people who had attended were not just the supporters of the regime,

...

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