UPDATE 3 - Iran: Dozens killed in stampede at Soleimani’s funeral

UPDATES WITH DEATH TOLL

By Zehra Nur Duz

ANKARA (AA) – At least 56 mourners were killed and 213 others injured in a stampede during the funeral for Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani in Iran, according to Iranian television.

The stampede occurred as thousands of mourners gathered during Soleimani's funeral procession in his hometown of Kerman.

Following the incident, Iranian authorities decided to postpone the burial to a "more appropriate date," the semi-official ISNA news agency said.

Soleimani, the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ elite Quds Force, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq on Friday.

His death marked a dramatic escalation in tensions between the U.S. and Iran, which rose in 2018 after U.S. President Donald Trump chose to unilaterally withdraw Washington from a 2015 nuclear pact world powers struck with Tehran.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who last year gave Soleimani the country's highest honor, vowed "severe retaliation" in response to his killing.

The Pentagon accused Soleimani of plotting an earlier embassy attack in Iraq and planning to carry out attacks on U.S. diplomats and service members in Iraq and the region.