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04 January 2020Thousands of Iraqis, in a sea of ​​flags, are attending the funeral procession of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad this morning shouting "death to America". The procession behind his coffin and that of his lieutenant in Iraq, Abu Mehdi al-Mouhandis, parades through the streets of the Kazimiya district, where there is a Shiite shrine. At the end, an official national funeral will be held in the green area of ​​Baghdad in the presence of many Iraqi leaders. Soleimani's remains will then be taken to Iran, where he will be buried in a second ceremony.

The Iraqi premier attends the ceremony
The ceremony is also attended by the Iraqi prime minister, Adil Abdul Mahdi. This was announced by the premier's office. Yesterday Mahdi said that the American raid is "a dangerous escalation", "the spark of a devastating war in Iraq".

New US raid on Iraq, a pro-Iranian paramilitary commander killed
During the night, a convoy of Iraqi militias north of Baghdad was attacked by an American air raid that killed a commander of the pro-Iranian paramilitary group, Shibl al-Zaidi, leader of the Kataib Imam Ali, one of the militias that make up the Hashed coalition. al Shaabi. According to Iraqi military sources, six people traveling in two vehicles were killed in the raid - which occurred in the Taji area. But an American official, under anonymity, claimed that the attack reported near Taji was not a US military attack. The new raid, however, concerns that a proxy war has broken out in Iraq, a proxy war between Washington and Tehran. The US administration's offensive aims to eliminate the militia leaders with which Iran maintains control over the Shiite majority country.

Tehran threatens revenge "at the right time"
The US is ready to send thousands more troops to the Middle East in response to Iran which threatens a "heavy revenge at the appropriate time and place" for "America's most serious mistake in Western Asia", the killing of the General Qassem Soleimani.

Trump: we don't want a war but we are ready for any response
"We didn't kill Soleimani for regime change or to start the war. But we are ready for whatever response is needed," said Donald Trump. "The United States has by far the best army in the world; we have the best intelligence in the world. If Americans around the world are under threat, we have already identified targets. And I am ready to take any necessary action, particularly against of Iran, "continued the American president.

US reinforcements in the Middle East
The Pentagon confirmed the deployment of additional troops: the IRF (Immediate Response Force) brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division was alerted to prepare for deployment. A battalion has already been deployed in Kuwait. At the same time, the rest of the brigade was placed 96 hours in advance. According to military sources cited by CNN and the NBC, the number of soldiers who will be sent to the region could be between 3,000 and 3,500. US troops stationed in Vicenza could be sent to Lebanon, if necessary, to protect the American embassy: a contingent of 130 to 700 soldiers confirmed a defense source who wanted to remain anonymous. This week the Pentagon had already sent 750 soldiers to the Middle East in response to the assault on the American embassy in Baghdad.

Dialogue attempts
At the same time, the State Department has made it known that the US is ready to speak with Iran. Already yesterday, confidential messages were exchanged through the Swiss charge d'affaires, who represents American interests in Tehran. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mussavi said that the Swiss business appointee was summoned a second time in the evening to receive the response from the Iranian authorities to a message from the American administration that he had delivered yesterday morning.

Social offensive against the White House
Pending Tehran's likely retaliation for the killing of General Soleimani, a vast Iranian offensive against the White House on social media has started, from Twitter to Instagram, with death threats, images of President Donald Trump with severed head and dead bodies closed. The New York Times reports. It is unclear whether the wave of anti-US posts is the result of real accounts or a spam invasion organized by Iranian state organizations.