Iran and Funerals

From what the news folks say....there's a minimum of 32 Iranians dead, and wounded folks going up to around 200.  Whether you can regard the information as correct or not....is another story.  Maybe it's true....maybe it's double that.  But here's the thing about funerals of key-players in Iran.  You can go back to 5 June 1989 and the funeral of the Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and note the trouble they had at that funeral, and you'd think here with this Suleimani funeral, and they'd apply 'lessons learned'.

So to retell the first attempted funeral on 5 June 1989.....you have to put youself in the middle of Tehran, and the utter shock that the Gran Ayatollah was dead.  He died on the evening of the 3rd, and they spent the whole day on the 4th preparing the funeral business.

What occurred on the 5th....is that the funeral parade had been drafted up and what they weren't prepared for....were the two-plus million local folks who came out.  Eventually, the procession through the streets idea....was given up.  They brought in a US-made Huey, and loaded the coffin on it, and took off to the graveyard.

The Revolutionary Guard folks were supposed to provide a secure fence area this area, and miserably failed. 

The Huey?  Somehow, the pilot found an area to land and cut the motor.....with the Revolutionary Guards supposed to come over and pick up the coffin, to do a walk around the graveyard....as part of some ceremony.

All 'hell' broke loose, and thousands poured into the area surrounding the coffin-team, and then.....a couple slipped, and the coffin fell....tossing the Grand Ayatollah (in a wrap) out on the ground. 

Crowds rushed up and started trying to 'touch' the dead guy.  Yes, as weird as it sounds.....thousands made the rush over. 

The Revolutionary Guards were in a mess, and somehow, a couple of them were able to push folks back, and get the body back into the box.  Someone in charge realized the mess, and ordered a path to the chopper to be accomplished, and the rotors began to turn.  Yep, they threw the coffin back on and left for a secure area.

The funeral?  Halted for that day.  Starting early on next day....a disinformation episode occurred, telling the public one thing, when they were going to do it drastically different.

This time, they'd loaded the guy on a airline shipping container (all steel) and with reinforcements....were able to bury him.

How many died from day one and two?  Unknown.  No one ever demanded accountability over the business.  It might have been hundreds....or perhaps just dozens. 

Lessons learned?  No....it appears that the same idiots who planned the one episode....were around to plan the second episode.