(Getty Images/Press Office of Iranian Supreme Leader/Anadolu Agency

Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, which was the United States designated as a terrorist organization, had prayed that he would die as a “martyr.”

In a report published on Nov. 10, 2014, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) published a report on Soleimani and his quest for martyr, quoting a speech in which he explained why this was his goal.

The MEMRI report said:

“On September 27, 2014, Defapress.ir, a website affiliated with Iranian security circles, published a speech that Soleimani delivered in 2007 at a conference honoring the ‘martyrs’ of the Iran-Iraq war. In the speech, Soleimani spoke in praise of jihad and steadfastness, and said that Iran, which is guided by God, is undefeatable and unstoppable. He added that the West refrains from attacking it because of its deterrent capability that it acquired through its martyrs and through the activity of the thousands of organizations that serve it, such as Hizbullah in Lebanon. The speech is an ode to the war and the jihad that gave rise to individuals who subsequently became leading figures in Iran. “Soleimani stressed, while praising martyrdom, that he himself yearned to gain the exalted status of a martyr, and added that jihad is a supreme value in war that allows Iranian fighters to compensate for their technological inferiority and lack of operational readiness and to defeat the enemy. [4] He emphasized that absolute obedience to the regime of the rule of the jurisprudent was also a decisive factor in war.”

The jurisprudent is the Supreme Leader, currently Ayatollah Ali Khameini.

MEMRI then published this passage from Soleimani’s speech, where he prayed for martyrdom:

"In light of the prestige earned by the martyrs, I pray to God for my own end to be martyrdom as well, and that He will not deny me this mighty blessing granted to outstanding individuals. On the frontlines [of the Iran-Iraq War], on the eves of operations and under the most difficult conditions... I felt the divine backing and guiding me, and I entered the war's most difficult arenas with reliance on God... "In essence, it can be deduced from Koranic verses, traditions, and hadiths that man is incapable of fully grasping [how lofty] the rank of the martyrs is... Sometimes a man turns to his friend and implores him, 'Pray [for me] that I will be martyred.' Usually we respond politely, 'No! May God keep you [alive], you are necessary to us.' [But praying for martyrdom] is a magnificent prayer... a magnificent prayer..."









