Crowds swarm Tehran to mourn slain Iran military leader Soleimani

Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi said at a parliamentary session on Sunday that he was scheduled to meet with Qasem Soleimani on the morning the top Iranian general was killed.

Mahdi said he was optimistic after a visit to Saudi Arabia in September 2019 that Baghdad had a plan to open dialogue between Riyadh and Tehran to calm tensions in the region, according to an interview on state-run TV station al-Iraqiya. 

Following Mahdi's speech at Parliament Sunday, Shia-majority blocs in the session chanted in support of Soleimani, and against the US and Israel.

Watch CNN's Nic Robertson explain:

Over the weekend, antiwar activists and protesters marched in major cities across the United States, including New York and Washington.

In the nation's capital, they demonstrated outside the White House and the Trump International Hotel, holding signs that read "US out of Iraq" and "No war with Iran."

In New York, protesters gathered in Times Square. "Use our taxes for schools, not for war," one sign read. Others painted peace signs on their faces and held posters decrying American imperialism.

“I’m here to take a stand against war because I have grown up in the last two decades with endless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Mandy Ti, who marched in New York.

Smaller protests were also held in North Carolina, Georgia, Illinois, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and other states.

The sun has risen in Tehran, setting a golden glow on the buildings, and the streets are full of mourners dressed in black.

Music is blaring and the crowds are chanting as the funeral procession gets underway. Gen. Qasem Soleimani's body arrived in the city on Sunday, and will now be carried to Azadi Square on the shoulders of supporters.

His body will rest in a shrine in the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran, before arriving in its final resting place in Soleimani's hometown of Kerman.

People at the funeral procession are holding portraits of Soleimani and waving Iranian flags. Some are carrying anti-US signs that read "Down with the USA."

Soleimani was revered and beloved in Iran, and the country has declared three days of national mourning.

Late Sunday night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter stating that the House of Representatives will introduce and vote on a war powers resolution to limit President Trump’s military actions regarding Iran.

The statement said:

Pelosi reiterated that the killing of Soleimani “endangered our service members, diplomats and others by risking a serious escalation of tensions with Iran.”

Editor's note: Michael Ware is a former Time magazine and CNN correspondent who was based in Baghdad from 2003 to 2009. The views expressed in this commentary are his own.

President Donald Trump says he ordered the killing of Iranian top general Qasem Soleimani "to stop a war." But that's simply not true.

Rather than stop a war, Trump just called Tehran's bluff and wagered all in with the single most daring American act in a conflict that's been raging for years.

Decades-long war: The war between the United States of America and Iran dates all the way back to 1953, when the US staged a coup d'etat in Iran to take down a popular, secular and nationalist prime minister.

This coup then led to the 1979 revolution that placed an ayatollah on the throne and the rule of the mullahs still in power today -- the very same mullahs that Soleimani served.

When the Iranians revolted, they overran the US Embassy in Tehran, taking dozens of American diplomats and Marines hostage, as seen in the 2012 movie "Argo."

That is when this war began. Not with this week's drone strike.

Soleimani's significance: Soleimani did more to shape then re-shape the region than any king, prince, sultan, president, or prime minister.

For more than 20 years, he commanded the Quds Force -- arguably, the most elite special forces outfit in the region, if not the world. They are spies, soldiers and technical experts. In Western terms, they are a hybrid of Green Berets, SAS commandos and Delta Force operators all fused into one.

Washington understood his value -- that is why Trump ordered the drone strike.

Will his assassination alter Iran's strategic ambitions? No. But will it slow them down? Maybe.

Read the full op-ed here.

Posting on Twitter Sunday, President Trump appeared to declare that his tweets were enough to notify Congress of any US military action -- which led to swift criticism from Democrats.

The Democratic-led House Foreign Affairs committee shot back at Trump's post in their own tweet Sunday night, stating, "This Media Post will serve as a reminder that war powers reside in the Congress under the United States Constitution. And that you should read the War Powers Act. And that you're not a dictator."

The War Powers Act: It states that when US armed forces abroad are "substantially enlarge(d)" without a war declaration, "the President shall submit within 48 hours ... a report, in writing" to the House Speaker and to the President pro tempore of the Senate.

It's been three days since President Donald Trump ordered an airstrike that killed Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.

Tensions are running high, with Iran promising revenge, Iraqi lawmakers pushing to expel US troops from the country, world leaders pleading for peace, and protests in several nations.

If you're just joining us now, here's what you need to know:

What to expect today: The funeral procession for Soleimani is continuing Monday in Iran, after his body arrived in the capital, Tehran. His body will be carried by supporters, placed in a shrine, and then finally be laid to rest in his hometown of Kerman.

US Customs and Border Protection has denied claims on social media that Iranian Americans were being detained and refused entry to the United States over the weekend.

A series of social media posts claimed that Iranian Americans had been held for extended periods of time at a port of entry in Blaine, Washington, at the Canadian border.

In one post that was shared more than 24,000 times, activists claimed that CBP had been "ordered" to detain "all Iranians entering the country deemed potentially suspicious."

The agency said that "based on the current threat environment, CBP is operating with an enhanced posture at its ports of entry to safeguard our national security and protect the American people while simultaneously protecting the civil rights and liberties of everyone."

US officials will meet with their Iraqi counterparts on Monday and Tuesday in Washington, with the two countries' relationship under strain.