Shahrekord/Iran: The Iranian opposition movement set a newly installed statue of Qassem Soleimani, the Quds Force commander killed in a US operation last year, to fire on Wednesday hours after it was unveiled, Arab News reported.
The statue at Hazrat Qamarbani Hashem Square in Shahrekord was installed to commemorate Soleimani's death anniversary, who was killed on Jan 3, 2020.
A source told Arab News that Iranians hated Soleimani for his role in the violent suppression of many unrests in Iran and involvement in the fatal attacks on Mujahedin-Khalq (MEK). Soleimani also armed, financed and supported Iran administrations proxies in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, the source from the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran said.
The source said that the Resistance is resilient and capable, which is evident from the burning of the statue just hours after its unveiling, under the administrations' watchful eyes. The MEK is still running activities inside Iran through its vast network of supporters, despite the extreme security clampdown by the Iran administration, the source told Arab News.
Soleimani was killed in a drone attack in Baghdad during Trump's regime in the US. Iraqi lieutenant Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis also played a part in the operation. The killing had angered Iran and its allies, and they reiterated to take revenge.