Larijani posted a note of condolence on Instagram regarding General Qassem Soleimani’s martyrdom, telling the US that Iranians will never compromise over the blood of their heroes.
However, a few hours after users began commenting on the post, Instagram started to remove the photos and hashtags about General Soleimani, and later deleted Larijani’s posts.
Instagram also removed another post by the parliament speaker that depicted his meeting with General Soleimani’s son.
On Monday, Iranian Government Spokesman Ali Rabiyee blasted Instagram for being a plaything in the hands of the US, criticizing that the social media platform has blocked the voices of the oppressed nations while allowing the terrorists to raise their voice and spread their messages across the world.
Rabiyee's remarks came in reaction to removal of the posts and photos of Lieutenant General Qasem Soleimani on Instagram.
"The blocking could be regarded as a nondemocratic move," Rabiyee tweeted .
He reiterated that the real feature of democracy and freedom of media are revealed in hard times.
Lieutenant General Soleimani was martyred in a targeted assassination attack by the US drones at Baghdad International Airport early on Friday morning.
General Qassem Soleimani has been martyred by the US aircraft after lifetime efforts, the IRGC said in a statement early Friday morning.
The airstrike also martyred Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), or Hashad al-Shaabi. The PMF media arm said the two were martyred in an American airstrike that targeted their vehicle on the road to the airport.
Five Iranian and five Iraqi militaries were martyred by missiles fired by the US drone at Baghdad International Airport.
The Pentagon confirmed the attack in a statement.
The attack came amid tensions that started by the US attack on PMF units that killed 28 Iraqi popular forces. A day later, Iraqi people attacked the US embassy in Baghdad. On Wednesday President Donald Trump ordered about 750 US soldiers deployed to the Middle East.
US officials earlier suggested they were to engage in further retaliatory attacks in Iraq.
The developments also represent a major downturn in Iraq-US relations that could further undermine US influence in the region and American troops in Iraq and weaken Washington’s hand in its pressure campaign against Iran.
US President Donald Trump was vacationing on his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, but sent out a tweet of an American flag.
The attack represents a dramatic escalation by the US toward Iran after months of tensions. The tensions take root in Trump’s decision in May 2018 to withdraw the US from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, struck under his predecessor.
