People attend the funeral ceremony of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 6, 2020. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians in Tehran on Monday mourned the assassination of Qassem Soleimani. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua)

A stampede at the funeral for a top Iranian general killed at least 50 peopleand injured more than 200 on Tuesday in the southeastern city of Kerman, state television reported.

AFP correspondents in Kerman said the streets of the southeastern city were packed with mourners for the funeral of Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani in his hometown.

People were seen taking refuge on hillsides around the city, in footage broadcast on state television.

Soleimani, the head of the Guards' Quds Force foreign operations arm, was assassinated on Friday in a US strike near Baghdad international airport, an operation that shocked Iran.

"The enemy killed him unjustly," the Revolutionary Guards' top commander, Major General Hossein Salami said, adding the process of "expelling the United States from the region has begun."

Tuesday's funeral came after days of processions through the southwestern city of Ahvaz and the shrine cities of Qom and Mashhad as well as the capital Tehran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday warned Trump to "never threaten" Iran, after the US leader issued a US strike list of 52 targets in the Islamic republic.

On Tuesday, Iranian lawmakers voted to designate all US forces around the world "terrorists" over Soleimani's killing.

Parliament also agreed to bolster the coffers of the Quds Force, which Soleimani led, by $244 million.

The killing of Soleimani was an act of "state terrorism" and Iran will respond proportionately, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview with CNN aired on Tuesday.

"This is an act of aggression against Iran, and it amounts to an armed attack against Iran, and we will respond. But we will respond proportionately," he said.

The US has denied a visa to Zarif that would have allowed him to attend a United Nations Security Council meeting in New York on Thursday.

Under the 1947 UN "headquarters agreement," the US is generally required to allow access to the UN for foreign ­diplomats. But Washington says it can deny visas for "security, terrorism and foreign policy" reasons.

China has urged the US to "effectively fulfill its host country obligations and facilitate the participation of relevant public officials of relevant countries in the UN meetings," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a daily briefing on Tuesday.

"Providing visas and other conveniences to delegates to the UN conferences is an international obligation of the US as the host country of the UN," Geng said.

China also urged the US not to abuse force. 

"We also call on all parties concerned to exercise restraint, to avoid escalating the situation, and to return to the track of dialogue and consultation as soon as possible," Geng added.
Newspaper headline: Dozens dead in funeral stampede