TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s Civil Defense Organization Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali says the American social media apps are afraid of even the pictures of Iran’s assassinated commander Qassem Soleimani.

“We hold the first anniversary of the great martyr in circumstances such that the new colonial [powers] and virtual tools of America such as Instagram are afraid of even publishing the pictures of Soleimani,” Jalali said in a message released on Saturday, ahead of the anniversary of Lieutenant General Soleimani’s martyrdom.

This shows that Qassem Soleimani is popular within the hearts of nations, he said.

January 3 marks the first anniversary of the U.S. assassination of General Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC). He was admired as the region’s most potent counter-terrorism commander.

He was Iran’s lead military advisor helping Iraq and Syria defeat foreign-backed Takfiri terrorist groups such as Daesh (ISIS).

General Soleimani was martyred in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad during an official visit. His Iraqi trenchmate Muhandis, deputy commander of Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha’abi anti-terror force, was also killed along with their other companions when their convoy was hit.

In what followed after the terrorist act by the U.S. military, Instagram and its parent company Facebook have been removing posts that voice support for Soleimani to comply with U.S. sanctions.

A few days after the assassination and as the “first slap”, the IRGC unleashed a barrage of missiles on January 8 at the United States’ Ain al-Assad air base in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, causing massive damage to the base.

According to top Iranian officials, the ultimate revenge for Soleimani’s assassination would be to throw the American forces out of the region.

“Martyr Soleimani, even after his innocent martyrdom, disrupted the enemies’ calculations,” General Jalali said.

“Contrary to the initial calculation of the Black House of Terrorism (the White House), the region and especially Iraq, instead of becoming a hotbed of few mercenary elements and happy with the martyrdom of the ‘general of hearts’, became a platform for expressing the holy and widespread fury of nations against the American crime,” he added.

Last month, several Katyusha rockets landed near the U.S. embassy in Baghdad’s highly fortified Green Zone.

Washington blamed Iran for the attack, but the Islamic Republic has strongly denied any involvement in the incident.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned on Thursday that the Islamic Republic avoids military conflict, but is prepared to put up effective defense.

“Iran doesn't seek war but will OPENLY & DIRECTLY defend its people, security & vital interests,” Zarif tweeted on Thursday.

MH/PA