A funeral procession was held on Monday for an Iranian military advisor who had been martyred in Iraq.
Brigadier General Hamid Taqavi was martyred while giving training to Iraqis in defending the Iraqi city of Samarra in Salahuddin province.
Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said if persons such as General Taqavi do not resist terrorism in Iraq and Syria terrorists will then seek to make Iran insecure.
“If the dearest children of Islamic Iran like martyr Taqavi do not resist the sedition of the takfiri terrorism in Iraq and Syria by sacrifice their blood the enemy will surely eye on creating insecurity in our dear homeland,” Shamkhani said on the sidelines of the funeral ceremony.
“Hamid Taqavi is a familiar name for the Iraqi Mojahedin and the oppressed people of the country,” Shamkhani said, adding the Iraqis viewed Taqavi as a committed, patient, and diligent commander.
In a statement issued on Sunday the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said, “Taqavi played a valuable and unforgettable role in countering the enemies of Islam.”
The Iranian Defense Ministry also said, “Taqavi became a martyr while fulfilling his duty as a military adviser in the fight against Daesh terrorists.”
A veteran of the 1980-1988 war with Iraq, Taqavi had been working as a senior advisor, assisting both the Syrian and Iraqi armies in their fight against ISIL and other extremists groups.
IRGC chief Mohammad Ali Jafari issued a statement on Monday offering condolences over the martyrdom of General Taqavi.
Jafari’s condolence offer was addressed to the Supreme Leader, the Taqavi family, relatives, comrades as well as the Iraqi people.