TEHRAN – A bronze bust of Commander Qassem Soleimani set up in the courtyard of Tehran’s Vahdat Hall was unveiled on Sunday.

Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Abbas Salehi and a large number of officials attended the unveiling ceremony of the bust created by Sabr-Ali Lavai.

Lieutenant-General Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, the overseas arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, was assassinated during a U.S. air raid in Baghdad on January 3.

Speaking at the ceremony held at Rudaki Hall, a smaller hall above Vahdat Hall, Salehi called Commander Soleimani a popular personality with whom people could easily connect.

“Peace, bravery and glory were the secrets behind the life of martyr Soleimani,” he said. 

“Commander Soleimani came to life with the Sacred-Defense [1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war] and today the 40th anniversary of the Sacred Defense is his first death anniversary. Commemorating this martyr will help add to the splendor of the 40th anniversary of the Sacred Defense,” the minister said.

Next in a live video call with Khuzestan Province, the poster of the Zolfaqar Art and Literary Festival was unveiled. 

The name of the festival refers to Zulfiqar, the sword of Imam Ali (AS). It was also used to name a national honor, entitled “Order of Zolfaqar”, one of which was presented to Commander Soleimani in March 2019 by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.  

“What is offered to you in return for jihad in the way of God and what Allah the Exalted grants in return for laying down your life and offering your possessions is paradise and divine satisfaction. What we grant— including our verbal and non-verbal gratitude, and the medals of honor, orders and epaulets that we grant— are things that are noteworthy on the basis of worldly calculations, but on the basis of spiritual and divine calculations, they are not noteworthy,” the Leader had said in honoring the commanded with the medal.
 
The Khuzestan governor-general also said that the province has been a witness to the bravery of Commander Soleimani and that the province owes a lot to the martyr and is ready to pay its respect to him as much as it could. 

The province will do its best to be a good host to the artists from all different fields in honor of martyr Soleimani, he said.

Moreover, in a video call with Kerman, Soleimani’s hometown, a poster of the 2nd Soleimani Theater Festival was unveiled.

The festival will be held in the city of Kerman from December 21 to 26. 

Qader Ashena, the director of Iran’s Dramatic Arts Center, Deputy Culture Minister for Artistic Affairs Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini and Rudaki Foundation Managing Director Ali-Akbar Safipur were among the participating guests.

Photo: The Bronze bust of Commander Qassem Soleimani is seen in the courtyard of Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on July 5, 2020. (Honaronline/Gata Ziatabari)

RM/MMS/YAW