Qasem Soleimani: US Kills Top Iranian General in Baghdad Airstrike

There was a US drone strike ordered on the Iranian Commander Soleimani who “was widely seen as the second most powerful figure in Iran, behind Ayatollah Khamenei". The Quds Force, an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, reported directly to the ayatollah, and Soleimani was hailed as a heroic national figure. What led to the drone strike was the information that Soleimani approved the attacks that were made on the US Embassy in Iran.

Without hesitation the US responded a few days later with the drone strike leaving other countries in the region to respond to the situation: Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi condemned the "assassination" of Soleimani as a "dangerous escalation" of regional tensions. Russia said the attack was a "murder" and a "reckless step" by the US. Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group called for Soleimani's death to be avenged. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the US had the "right " to defend itself and praised President Trump for acting "swiftly, forcefully and decisively". The talk of war can so easily turn into war itself. This could be in correlation to pulling out troops from US bases in fear of more attacks coming from Iran. President Trump states, the matter was crucial for American safety and Soleimani should have been killed long before he (Trump) was in office.

The President also stated that the impact would positively affect the Iranian people as Soleimani was said to be “feared and hated by many within the country of Iran”. While threats come from Iran, it does not seem that the situation will calm down soon.

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