Iranian senior general Qassem Suleimani was killed by the US in Baghdad. This attack will have an earthquake effect in the Middle East. The US has called on US citizens to leave Iraq. The Mahdi Army was reactivated and so were pro-Iranian militias.
General Qassem Suleimani, leader of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds force, was the target of the attack launched by the US on Baghdad airport.
According to the Pentagon, US President Donald Trump ordered the attack on Suleimani's convoy on 2 January.
In addition to Suleimani, Hashdi al-Shaabi Commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis died in this attack. Both men were traveling in the same vehicle. A second vehicle in which Hashdi Shabi guards were traveling was bombed and at least 8 people were killed. Guided drones were fired from an American helicopter.
The US Department of Defense said the strike was a deterrent measure to protect American personnel abroad. This air strike is meant to deter Iran from all attack projects in the future, the Ministry of Defense said.
In his long military career, Qassem Suleimani left the Middle East littered with corpses.
The strike came at a time when Iraq was already on the brink of an all-out proxy war, and hours after a two-day siege of the US embassy in Baghdad by a mob of pro-Iranian militants and their supporters. The Pentagon accused Suleimani of having masterminded the mob attack.
Reactions from Iran
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said harsh revenge awaited the “criminals” who killed Soleimani. His death, though bitter, would double the motivation of the resistance against the United States and Israel, he said.
In a statement carried by state television he called for three days of national mourning.
President Hassan Rouhani said the assassination would make Iran more decisive in its resistance to the United States while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said anti-U.S. forces would exact revenge across the Muslim world.
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi condemned the killings as a violation of the conditions of the U.S. military presence in Iraq and an act of aggression that breached Iraq’s sovereignty and would lead to war.
Reactions from US Congress senators
According to a democratic representative, Congress was not informed of this attack. “President Trump is dragging our nation into an illegal war with Iran without Congress' approval", said Democratic Senator Tom Udall.
