- Also spelled:
- Qasem Soleimani or Qassim Suleimani
- Born:
- March 11, 1957, Qom?, Iran
- Role In:
- Iran-Iraq War
Qassem Soleimani
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Who was Qassem Soleimani?
Qassem Soleimani, born on March 11, 1957, and killed on January 3, 2020, was an Iranian major general and commander of the Quds Force from 1997/98 to 2020. The Quds Force is a wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and is responsible for IRGC foreign operations.
Soleimani fought in the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88) and, by March 1998, became commander of the Quds Force. Under his leadership, the Quds Force became an elite military unit and the driving force behind Iran’s geopolitical influence, offering support to groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Soleimani established connections in Iraq. By the mid-2010s, he commanded an influential presence in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.
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What role did Qassem Soleimani have in Iran?
Qassem Soleimani was a major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and commander of the Quds Force from 1997/98 until his death in 2020. The Quds Force is an elite wing of the IRGC responsible for foreign operations.
Under Soleimani, the Quds Force became a driving force behind Iran's geopolitical influence, supporting groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. Soleimani also played a crucial role in the fight against ISIS, working with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Iraq. In March 2019, Soleimani received the Order of Dhū al-Faqār, the highest military honor in Iran, from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
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What was the Quds Force, and how was Qassem Soleimani involved with it?
The Quds Force is a special unit of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), mainly responsible for foreign operations. It was formed after the Iranian Revolution (1978–79) to organize and support local forces abroad in ways that would benefit the IRGC and Iran's clerical establishment.
Qassem Soleimani was the commander of the Quds Force, which he led to become an elite military unit for covert and expeditionary warfare. Under his leadership, the Quds Force continued to support Hezbollah in Lebanon and lent support to Palestinian resistance groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad. By the mid-2010s, Soleimani and the Quds Force had a strong presence in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, which Iran called its "Axis of Resistance".
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How did Qassem Soleimani influence events in the Middle East?
Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, significantly shaped Middle Eastern events by expanding Iran's geopolitical influence from Iraq to the Levant. He bolstered groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and supported Palestinian resistance movements such as Hamas. The 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq provided Soleimani with an opportunity to cultivate connections within the country. As a major general, he assisted Syrian officials in suppressing the 2011 uprising, with the Quds Force offering crucial support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. By the mid-2010s, Soleimani had established a strong presence in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, forming what Iran called its "Axis of Resistance".
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Why was Qassem Soleimani considered important or controversial internationally?
Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, was a key figure in Iran's foreign operations and geopolitical influence in the Middle East. He supported groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, and played a crucial role in the Syrian Civil War, helping President Bashar al-Assad.
Soleimani was viewed as controversial due to the Quds Force's activities, which included supporting militant groups and intervening in regional conflicts.. He was assassinated in Baghdad on January 3, 2020, in a U.S. airstrike, further escalating tensions between Iran and the United States.
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What happened to Qassem Soleimani in 2020, and what impact did it have?
Qassem Soleimani, an Iranian major general and commander of the Quds Force, was killed on January 3, 2020, in Baghdad, Iraq, by a U.S. drone strike. The attack, which also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), escalated tensions between the United States and Iran. In retaliation, Iran launched ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases hosting U.S. troops. Later that same night, the Revolutionary Guards mistakenly shot down Ukraine International Airlines flight 752, killing all 176 on board, which sparked anti-government protests across Iran.
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Qassem Soleimani (born March 11, 1957, Qom?, Iran—killed January 3, 2020, Baghdad, Iraq) was an Iranian major general and commander of the Quds Force (1997/98–2020), a wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) responsible for IRGC foreign operations. He was assassinated in a U.S. drone strike in 2020.
• U.S.-Iran Relations: A timeline of betrayal, rhetoric, and bloodshed.
Early life
Soleimani’s birthplace is disputed. Many informal sources suggest that he was born in the Iranian village of Qanāt-e Malek, near the city of Rābor, in Kermān province, where he spent some of his childhood. In identifier information published in 2007, the U.S. Department of State gave Qom as his place of birth, which is presumably the place of birth listed on his diplomatic passport.
Soleimani grew up in a poor rural family, indebted by loans from Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi’s modernization program, in Kermān province, which is in southeastern Iran. He worked from a young age in effort to help pay off the family’s debt. After the Iranian Revolution (1978–79), he joined the IRGC. His first deployment was to Mahābād, a predominantly Kurdish city in northwestern Iran, where he helped suppress Kurdish separatists.
Military achievements
He fought throughout the long Iran-Iraq War (1980–88), including along the front lines, and trained battalions. After the Iran-Iraq War, he gained the rank of brigadier general and led a division in a campaign to secure southeastern Iran from drug cartels. As the Taliban emerged in neighboring Afghanistan in the mid-1990s and began to take control of the country, he aided Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance in its resistance against the faction. By March 1998 he was appointed commander of the Quds Force.
Under Soleimani’s leadership the Quds Force developed into an elite military unit for covert and expeditionary warfare and the driving force behind Iran’s geopolitical influence, stretching from Iraq across the northern Levant. The unit not only continued its patronage of Hezbollah in Lebanon, which it helped establish in 1982, but it also lent support to Palestinian resistance groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad. A key opportunity arose with the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, allowing Soleimani to establish a network of connections in Iraq. When the Arab Spring protests made their way to Syria in March 2011, Soleimani, now a major general, met with Syrian officials to coordinate the uprising’s suppression; the Quds Force lent vital support to Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, when that crackdown turned into a civil war. By the mid-2010s Soleimani, through the Quds Force, commanded an influential presence in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon—what Iran termed its “Axis of Resistance.”
Assassination
Soleimani and the Quds Force were instrumental in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL; also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria [ISIS]), working closely with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF; also called al-Hashd al-Shaabi) in Iraq. After the defeat of ISIL, the Quds Force remained highly influential in Iraq. In October 2019, Iraqis took to the streets in frustration with the struggling economy, government corruption, and persistent lack of improvement and called on the government to resign. After Soleimani met with Iraqi officials to prevent the ouster of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, Iraqi protesters began demonstrating against Iranian interference in Iraqi politics, going so far as to burn down the Iranian consulate in Najaf in late November. On December 27 a militia from the PMF coalition attacked an Iraqi base housing U.S. troops, setting off a series of events that escalated tensions between the United States and Iran. On January 3, 2020, Soleimani arrived at Baghdad International Airport, where he was greeted by the PMF deputy commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. They were both killed, along with five others, when a U.S. drone fired missiles at their convoy.
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In March 2019 Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei had awarded Soleimani the medal of the Order of Dhū al-Faqār, making him the first military commander to receive the honor since the 1979 revolution. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of lieutenant general.