Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike order by President Donald Trump.
A procession in Tehran on Monday drew over 1 million people in Iran’s capital, crowding main thoroughfares and side streets. Emergency services in Kerman blamed high levels of congestion and overcrowding for the tragedy.
Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency said authorities later delayed Soleimani’s burial because of concerns about the massive crowd that had gathered in Kerman.
It did not say when the burial would take place.
Soleimani’s killing has reignited fears Tehran and Washington could be on the brink of a military confrontation. Both sides say they want to avoid war. However, Iran has pledged revenge for the death of one its most revered commanders. It has indicated this could take the form of a military reprisal targeting U.S. forces.
Soleimani headed the Quds Force, an elite wing of the Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary Guards Corps. Quds orchestrates Iran’s deep ties to non-state armed militants groups in the Middle East, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, with whom Soleimani was holding meetings when he was killed in a U.S. strike near Baghdad’s airport Friday.
