YEREVAN, JANUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. Thousands rally in Baghdad as a convoy carried the bodies of those killed in the US air strike on Friday in the Iraqi capital, Al Jazeera reported.

Tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated dramatically after an airstrike killed Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran's elite Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) in Baghdad. The airstrike was authorized by President Donald Trump.

Soleimani’s body will be transported to Iran next week for burial, according to Al Jazeera.

Iraq's caretaker prime minister Adel Abdel Mahdi attended the mourning procession underway in Baghdad for the victims of the bombing.

The Iraqi parliament is due to have an emergency session on Sunday in response to caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's call to take measures to preserve Iraq's security, Al Jazeera reported.