Iran’s Quest to Dominate the Mideast Loses Its Hero
The general led the push to build influence in the Arab world and his successor has a tough task to continue it.
Mourners surround the coffins of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and others killed in the U.S. airstrike during a funeral ceremony in Tehran on Jan. 6.
Photographer: Ali Mohammadi/BloombergThree months before he was killed by a U.S. drone, Qassem Soleimani reminisced about his involvement in the war between Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Iran’s most prominent general recalled how he traveled to Lebanon from Syria on July 12, 2006, partly on foot through back roads because the main highway was unsafe. He took off his military jacket one night in Beirut’s southern suburbs, traditionally a Shiite stronghold loyal to Iran, before he and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah took shelter under a tree.