Iranians rail against Israel at funeral for soldier beheaded by ISIS

Blaming creation of jihadist group on Jewish state, cleric warns Israelis, ‘We will behead your leaders’ as crowd chants, ‘Death to Israel’

Thousands of Iranians called for Israel’s destruction at a funeral Wednesday for a young member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps beheaded by the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria, a killing that has struck a nerve within the Islamic Republic as its forces continue to suffer casualties in Iraq and Syria.

The slaying of 25-year-old Mohsen Hojaji captured the imagination of many in Iran, a Shiite-ruled nation whose national religion holds sacred acts of mourning and the acknowledgement of sacrifices. Since his death, artists and others have memorialized Hojaji in videos and paintings, while discussion of his slaying has muted domestic criticism of Iran’s foreign military operations, especially in Syria.

Source: TOI