Iran declares Qassem Soleimani's ring as cultural heritage

An oversized silver ring with a red stone worn by Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani who was killed by a US strike in 2020 has been added to Iran's cultural heritage list, local media reported on Saturday.

The famous ring, which has been kept by Soleimani's wife since his death, was declared by the ministry of cultural heritage as national asset on Saturday, Tehran Times reported.

Soleimani, who led the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, was assassinated along with nine others in a US drone strike on 3 January, that hit his convoy as it left Baghdad airport.

His body, which was "torn to shreds" by the missiles, was identified by the famous oversized ring on his severed hand.

A graphic photograph of the ring on the bloodied hand lying on grass at the scene of the attack circulated soon after the assassination.

Soleimani led the Quds Force, the extraterritorial branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and had been involved in the creation of the Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces militias, as well as foreign fighter groups which propped up Bashar Al-Assad's regime in Syria.

After the military commander's killing, Iran in January fired missiles at Iraqi air bases hosting US and foreign troops.

Last year, UN human rights expert declared Soleimani's killing amounted to a violation of international law.

Iran issued an arrest warrant and asked Interpol for help in detaining then-US President Donald Trump and dozens of others it believes carried out the drone strike that killed him.