Qasem Soleimani: Difference between revisions

He was martyred on [[Jumada I 7]], [[1441]]/[[January 3]], [[2020 CE|2020]] by American forces in [[Baghdad]]. After his martyrdom in 2020, Soleimani was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General.

Qasem Soleimani, son of Hasan, was born on [[March 11]], 1957 in Rabor, a small town in [[Kerman]] province, Iran. He was employed in Kerman's Water and Wastewater Company when he was eighteen. During the events that led to the [[Islamic Revolution]] of Iran, he was acquainted with Reza Kamyab, a cleric from [[Mashhad]], who encouraged him to participate in the activities against the [[Pahlavi regime]]. He was one of the main leaders of the protests in Kerman during the revolution.

After the Islamic Revolution of Iran, Qasem Soleimani joined the [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]] (IRGC) in 1981 and when the war between Iran and Iraq started, he trained a number of battalions in Kerman and sent them to the fronts.  

After the end of the war in 1989, Soleimani returned to Kerman and engaged in combating the insurgents led by the enemies of Iran outside the eastern Iranian borders. Prior to being appointed to the command of the Quds Force, Soleimani engaged in combating the drug dealers on the borders of Iran and [[Afghanistan]].  

On January, 2011, Soleimani was promoted to the rank of Major general by the Supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.  

Qasem Soleimani was appointed by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, as the commander of the IRGC's Quds Force. According to a report by the [[Israeli]] intelligence services, the Quds Force was established in 1990 to boost Iranian activities outside its borders. After Ahmad Vahidi, Soleimani became the second commander of the Quds force. According to Israeli sources, Qasem Soleimani played a major role in expanding the influence of Iran in the Middle East and especially in the Arab Spring countries. According to the same source, through Qasem Soleimani's strategies, Iran deepened its influence in Iraq, Syria, and [[Yemen]].  

A Part of Ayatollah Khamenei's letter to Soleimani regarding the end of ISIS's rule: "By eradicating the tumor of ISIS, not only you did a great service to the countries in region and in the Muslim world but also to humanity."

Soleimani was a prominent commander in the battle against [[ISIS]] in Iraq and Syria. ISIS is an extremist group, which appeared after the fall of [[Saddam Husein]] and in the absence of a powerful rule in Iraq. Iran started combating this group for the security of the region. According to ISNA, in 2011, the forces under Soleimani's command, including the [[Fatimiyyun Division]] and the [[Zaynabiyyun Brigade]], went to Syria to fight ISIS and other extremist groups. In 2014, [[Mosul]] was conquered by ISIS and Baghdad was almost conquered by them as well. Organizing parts of the [[Popular Mobilization Forces]] (PMF), Soleimani played a major role in driving away the ISIS from Iraq. Haider al-Abadi, the Iraqi prime minister of the time, called Soleimani as a major partner in fighting ISIS.

In [[March 10]], 2019, Ayatollah Khamenei, granted Soleimani the Dhu l-Fiqar sign, which is granted to high ranking military commanders whose commandership leads to significant results or victories. After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Soleimani was the first commander who received this sign.  

In 2019, the American magazine Foreign Policy, listed Qasem Soleimani among the one-hundred top global defense and security thinkers.

Soleimani's martyrdom led to waves of protest in different countries throughout the world, and many [[mourning ceremonies]] were held for him in different cities in Iran and other countries.

[[Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah]] (the Secretary General of Hezbollah), [[Sayyid Abd al-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi|Sayyid Abd al-Malik al-Houthi]] (the leader of Ansar Allah in Yemen), and the presidents of [[Syria]], [[Lebanon]], [[Iraq]], and [[Turkey]] were among other non-Iranian political figures who condemned the assassination of Soleimani. Moreover, prime ministers of many foreign countries expressed their sympathy with Iran and condemned America's crime. Agnès Callamard, the Special Rapporteur at the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), announced the assassination of Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandes to be illegal and a violation of international law. Ervand Abrahamian, the American historian, also stated that Iranians used to regard the US as a conspiring government against them but from now on they will consider it a terrorist government. Michael Moore, the American film-maker, also objected to the assassination and implied that the American Government was warmonger.  

After the martyrdom of Soleimani and al-Muhandes, a number of Iraqi people and political groups called for ousting the American forces from Iraq and thus the Iraqi parliament ratified on [[January 5]], 2020 the expelling of the Americans. It is noteworthy that prior to that and after the Americans attacked the bases of the Popular Mobilization Forces, several people and groups had demanded the American forces to be ousted. [[Ayatollah Sayyid Kazim Ha'iri]] also had issued a [[fatwa]], declaring the prohibition of allowing the American forces to stay in Iraq.  

In the early hours of January 8, 2020, Iran's IRGC launched several ballistic missiles at Ain al-Asad, a major air base used mainly by American forces, as well as another American air base in [[Erbil]] in retaliation for the assassination of Qasem Soleimani.

The [[burial ceremonies]] of Qasem Soleimani together with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandes and other martyrs were held on [[January 4]], 2020 in [[Baghdad]], [[Karbala]], and [[Najaf]] with the presence of Iraqi political and religious figures and many other people. Afterwards, the bodies were taken to Iran, and the burial ceremonies were held with the presence of millions of people in [[Ahwaz]] and [[Mashhad]] on January 5, 2020 and in [[Tehran]] and [[Qom]] on [[January 6]], 2020. Then, the final ceremony was held on [[January 7]], in [[Kerman]], where Soleimani was buried.   

According to Russia Today Arabic, the gathering of people for Soleimani's burial ceremony was the second largest such gathering after the gathering for [[Imam Khomeini]]'s burial ceremony.