BEIJING, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- The killing of an Iranian commander has sparked widespread anti-war rallies in major U.S. cities while heightening anti-U.S. sentiments in many parts of the Middle East:

People attend a protest against the killing of high-profile Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in San Francisco, the United States, Jan. 4, 2020. (Li Jianguo/Xinhua)

SAN FRANCISCO -- Holding placards reading "No War on Iran" and "U.S. Troops out of Iraq," about 2,000 protesters rallied near a metro station downtown here Saturday to oppose the U.S. killing of a top Iranian military leader in Iraq.

The demonstrators chanted anti-war slogans such as "The road to peace is U.S. out of the Middle East," "Trump says more war, we say no more," and "No justice, no peace; U.S. out of the Middle East" to express their anger and discontent over the U.S. military presence and action in the Gulf.

After the rally at the metro station, thousands of the protesters marched along Market and Mission streets in the downtown area to the UN Plaza north of City Hall, where several speakers delivered speeches in turn, accusing the federal government and U.S. military of conducting dangerous actions in the Middle East.

Gloria La Riva, an organizer of the rally, told Xinhua that San Francisco locals came out on Saturday, along with people in more than 70 other U.S. cities to demand an end to the U.S. presence in the Middle East, and to oppose the U.S. "assassination" of Soleimani three days ago.

She slammed the Pentagon for its "very dangerous" attempts to destroy Iran, adding that "they've already destroyed Iraq in many ways, but they want to do away with Iran. Only people can stop the war and make this government bring the U.S. troops back home."

Police stand guard at Times Square in New York, the United States, Jan. 6, 2020. New York City (NYC) has stepped up security at key locations following the targeted killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani by a U.S. airstrike in Iraq. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

NEW YORK -- Hundreds of anti-war protesters rallied Saturday in Times Square of New York City (NYC), in the wake of a U.S. airstrike near Baghdad International Airport, which killed an Iranian commander.

The protesters held signs that read "Jobs, healthcare, education, housing, human needs, not endless war," and "No war/sanctions on Iran!"

The protesters chanted "No justice, no peace. U.S. out of the Middle East!" and "No war with Iran." They also marched down a stretch of Broadway.

The protest came hours after a rally outside U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer's apartment in Brooklyn on Friday night.

On Friday, a U.S. drone attack ordered by President Donald Trump killed Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, instantly inflaming the already strained Washington-Tehran tensions.

A number of anti-war groups helped set up the rally to decry the killing of Soleimani. New York City has stepped up security at key locations.

An old man attends a protest against the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, in Sanaa, Yemen, on Jan. 6, 2020. (Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua)

ADEN, Yemen -- Yemen's Houthi rebel group has called for striking the U.S. military bases in the region in swift reprisal for the killing of the senior Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.

In a statement by the group's political bureau on Friday, the rebels considered the U.S. killing of Soleimani as "a war crime," saying "striking the American bases in the region is the only available solution."

"The peoples of the region should realize that their security and stability are subject to proceeding with the liberating project until the expulsion of the American occupier," the statement read.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, leader of the Houthi group, also strongly condemned "the assassination of Soleimani" and called for a "swift and direct response." Large billboards bearing the portrait of Soleimani appeared on the major streets of the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital Sanaa.

The Houthis have been in control of the Yemeni capital Sanaa and several other northern provinces since September 2014.

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. (Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua)

TEHRAN -- Hundreds of thousands of Iranians in Tehran on Monday mourned the assassination of Qassem Soleimani.

The black-clad mourners flooded to the Enghelab (Revolution) and Azadi (Liberty) streets of Tehran to pay their tribute to Soleimani. They shouted anti-U.S. slogans in rage and carrying placards calling for "immediate departure" of U.S. forces from the region.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei performed the official religious ritual for Soleimani's body.

Senior Iranian officials, including President Hassan Rouhani, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Reisi, attended the funeral ceremony.

Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani, who was appointed by Khamenei as the new commander of Quds Force of the IRGC, vowed to take revenge.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif said Saturday that the killing of Soleimani violates fundamental international law.

During a phone conversation at the initiative of the Iranian side, Lavrov expressed his condolences over the killing of Soleimani in a U.S. airstrike, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The ministers emphasized that U.S. actions are a gross violation of fundamental international law and do not contribute to finding solutions to the complex problems that have accumulated in the Middle East, but lead to a new round of escalation of tension in the region," the statement said.■