Iran Was in Trouble Even Before Soleimani's Death
A Q&A with Lebanese journalist Kim Ghattas on what the military commander’s killing means for Tehran and its neighbors.
Good riddance?
Photographer: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
The administration of President Donald Trump has no shortage of justifications for the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, from stopping an imminent embassy attack to retaliating for the death of a U.S. contractor to needing to do just about anything President Barack Obama wouldn’t.
To my mind, though, the most persuasive case was made by the president himself: “The Iranian regime’s aggression in the region, including the use of proxy fighters to destabilize its neighbors, must end, and it must end now.” The question, of course, is whether the death of the man who ran those proxy forces will result in more or less of that destabilization.