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The burial of a top Iranian general slain in a U.S. air strike has begun after a delay caused by a stampede that killed at least 56 people and injured more than 200 during the funeral procession in his hometown, state media report.

The stampede took place in Kerman, the hometown of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by a drone strike in Baghdad last week.

The cause of the stampede was not immediately clear.

Following a delay because of security concerns about the massive crowd that had gathered, the authorities began the burial service for the powerful commander in the ‘martyrs’ section’ of Kerman cemetery, the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported.

The January 3 assassination of the 62-year-old major general who helped orchestrate Tehran’s overseas clandestine and military operations has carried already tense U.S.-Iranian relations to uncharted territory, with vows of revenge and retaliation emanating from both sides.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected suggestions Soleimani was on a ‘diplomatic’ mission when he was killed.

‘Is there any history that would indicate that it was remotely possible that this kind gentleman, this diplomat of great order — Qasem Soleimani — had traveled to Baghdad for the idea of conducting a peace mission?’ Pompeo said during a press briefing.

‘We know that wasn’t true,” he added, responding to remarks by Iranian officials that the slain general was attempting to conduct peace talks in Iraq.

Domestic critics of U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to kill the Iranian commander have said the move has brought the United States closer to a potentially devastating war with Iran, while Canada and some U.S. allies in Europe have begun moving troops at least temporarily out of Iraq.

NATO said it had ‘temporarily suspended our training on the ground’ and was taking ‘all precautions necessary to protect our people.’

This includes the ‘temporary re-positioning of some personnel to different locations both inside and outside of Iraq,’ the alliance added.

Stampede Aftermath

Videos posted online showed victims of the stampede in Kerman lying lifeless on a road while survivors shout and try to help the injured.

Thousands of black-clad mourners had gathered earlier in the central square of Kerman carrying posters bearing the image of Soleimani.

At the start of the funeral procession, the IRGC’s top commander Hossein Salami threatened to ‘set ablaze” unspecified locations supported by the United States over Soleimani’s killing.

‘We will take revenge. We will set ablaze a place they like, and they well know where it is,’ Salami said, drawing the cries of ‘Death to Israel.’

On January 6, crowds filled the streets of the capital, Tehran, to mourn Soleimani in a funeral procession during which Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wept over the slain commander’s casket.

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Republished with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036