Not many people were impressed with Iran’s later Major Gen. Qassem Soleimani when he was alive. And now that he’s been blasted to smithereens, local jewelers say they aren’t very impressed with the ring that was found on his cold, dead finger.
By: Rochelle Winzelberg
“Dealers believe the distinctive ring worn by Soleimani is either a red carnelian stone — believed by some Middle East Muslims as able to bestow “blessings”– or possibly an inexpensive ruby that would cost a few hundred bucks,” according to The New York Post. “From the photo, it looks like it’s a carnelian stone — it’s not a ruby; it comes from Africa,” said Maykel Rieth, a professional cutter for R Gems Inc on West 48th Street.
“The ring is made out of silver,” he continued. “It could be white gold, but it looks like silver — and whoever made a stone like this is not going to put it in gold because it’s not an expensive piece.”
Another jeweler told the Post (for the full story, see https://nypost.com/2020/01/04/its-no-hope-diamond-nyc-jewelers-not-impressed-by-ring-that-ided-soleimanis-corpse/) that, “From the looks of it, it doesn’t look like an expensive ring because it’s made out of silver, it’s not gold. From the photo the color of the ruby is dark. The brighter the ruby the more expensive, so this ring here doesn’t look that expensive,” he said, “although it’s very difficult to get an exact price from a photo.”
Democrats were quick to side with Iran in blasting Trump for the attack that killed the general. But those without a political axe to grind were elated. According to nationalinterest.org, “Qassem Soleimani was responsible for the deaths of more Americans than any terrorist leader since Osama Bin Laden. No one should mourn his death. In Iran, however, and certainly without moral equivalence, he was a revered figure like former U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, a man who advocated for the troops and was not afraid to mix with them. Inside Iran, he pulled as the most popular or second most popular figure over the course of years. As successive U.S. administrations repeatedly dropped the ball on any informational strategy to accompany the U.S. diplomatic, economic, and military approach, he filled a vacuum which capitalized on Iranian nationalism.”
“Relatively unknown in Iran until the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, Soleimani’s popularity and mystique grew after American officials called for his killing. A decade and a half later, Soleimani had become Iran’s most recognizable battlefield commander, ignoring calls to enter politics but growing as powerful, if not more, than its civilian leadership,” reported AP.
“The warfront is mankind’s lost paradise,” Soleimani said in a 2009 interview with AP. “One type of paradise that is portrayed for mankind is streams, beautiful nymphs and greeneries. But there is another kind of paradise. … The warfront was the lost paradise of the human beings, indeed.”
