Iran’s Top General Soleimani Killed by US Strike

The United States killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani has changed the rules of engagement between Iran and the US, Iranian analysts say.

Ariana News Agency- 

Soleimani, who for 20 years was the face of Iranian militarised foreign policy in the Middle East, was killed in a US air raid in Iraq at Baghdad’s international airport in the early morning hours of Friday.

He was the head of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and the architect of its military and political power.

Soleimani died alongside Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces, PMF), an umbrella of Iraqi militias. While the PMF has been legally integrated into Iraq’s formal security forces, critics say some of the factions still operate independently of Baghdad and that some are funded and armed through the IRGC.

The White House and the Pentagon confirmed the killing of Soleimani in Iraq, saying the attack was carried out at the direction of US President Donald Trump and was aimed at deterring future attacks allegedly being planned by Iran.