Demonstrators joined the open Zoom event meant to commemorate the Iranian commander, but instead chanted “murder Soleimani” The protest forced organisers to end the event halfway through the commemoration ceremony LONDON: A virtual memorial held by the Iranian embassy in Turkey to mark one year since the killing of Qassem Soleimani was disrupted by dozens of protesters on Saturday. Demonstrators joined the open Zoom event meant to commemorate the Iranian commander, but instead chanted “murder Soleimani.” They also changed their names and images to a placard stating: “Iran is a murderer.” The protest forced organisers to end the event halfway through the commemoration ceremony. The memorial was attended by both Iranian and Turkish officials. Last year, a US drone strike near Baghdad airport killed Soleimani, the man considered Iran’s most powerful military figure. He headed the elite Quds Force - the wing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) responsible for foreign operations. He frequently shuttled between Iraq, Lebanon and Syria to oversee Iran’s foreign militias. His assassination dramatically ratcheted up tensions in the region and brought the US and Iran to the brink of war. Days after the killing, Iran fired more than a dozen missiles at two US bases in Iraq, leaving more than 100 US soldiers with traumatic brain injuries. Top Iranian officials have constantly threatened further “harsh revenge” for the killing of Soleimani. In September, the IRGC’s commander Major-General Hossein Salami doubled down on the threat.