Last Friday, during an air attack ordered by the United States, the Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani, died. He was acclaimed in his native country as a brave, beloved and charismatic hero among the troops. In turn, he was considered one of the most controversial and powerful men in Iran.
However, for the United States, the famous commander would be a cold-blooded killer and the leader of a foreign terrorist organization. This would have been a great reason for its elimination under an attack at Baghdad International Airport.
Military life
After starting his first-line military career between the Iran and Iraq war, in the ’80s, Soleimani became one of the main axes of Iran and the Middle East.
The Pentagon has said Soleimani has been «responsible for the deaths of hundreds of members of the US service and the coalition and for hurting thousands more.»
While the perception of Mark Hertling, lieutenant general and national security, intelligence and, terrorism analyst, portrays him in another sense. «He has been in combat all his life. His soldiers love him. He is a quiet and charismatic guy, a strategic genius and a tactical operator,» he said in an interview for CNN.
Terrorism
From the American perception, it is believed that it was Soleimani and his troops who would have armed the Iraqi insurgents with bombs to perpetuate the armored units during the Iraq War; However, Iran has labeled the accusations of the American giant as false.
As for the crude clashes with ISIS, it is mentioned that Soleimani would have kept in and out of the country to support the Shiite forces to fight the extremists.
In addition, the Iranian general would also have been involved in the attempted assassination of the Saudi Arabian ambassador, Adel Al-Jubeir, in the United States under the supervision of the Quds Forces in 2011.
A threat to the United States
According to the statement issued last Friday by the US Department of Defense, the dejected would have been «actively developing plans to attack US diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.»
These suspicions were infused by a series of attacks on coalition bases in Iraq. Among them, one in which an American contractor and Iraqi personnel died.