How Qassem Soleimani Helped Shape the Modern Mideast

Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds force, was the personification of Iran’s projection of power abroad. His death in a U.S. strike near Baghdad International Airport will reverberate across the Middle East, where he helped make Iran a decisive regional player via a network of proxy militias. Soleimani also wielded influence at home through his close ties to the country’s Supreme Leader, forged during a military career that spanned the bloody eight-year war with Iraq to paramilitary operations in countries including Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. His assasination heightens fears of escalation between the U.S. and Iran, which could easily pull in other countries.

An airstrike ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump killed Soleimani near Baghdad’s airport early on Jan. 3 local time. Trump authorized the strike days after dozens of Iranian-backed militiamen and their supporters stormed the U.S. embassy complex in Baghdad to protest U.S. airstrikes against Kataeb Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia that nominally falls under the command of the Iraqi armed forces.