Who was Qasem Soleimani?
Soleimani was head of the Quds force, the overseas branch of the Revolutionary Guards. He was killed leaving Baghdad airport on Friday. In his homeland, Soleimani was hailed as a national hero. Who was Qasem Soleimani? But he was also a hardliner and a dominant force in a state that shot dead scores of protesters at the end of 2019. Soleimani supported Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the country's civil conflict, aided the Shia militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, and guided Iraqi militia groups against the Islamic State group. Justifying the strike President Trump said Soleimani was plotting "imminent" attacks on US diplomats and military personnel.What has happened since his death?
Immediately after his death, Iran threatened retaliation. On Sunday, Iran declared it would no longer abide by any of the restrictions imposed by the 2015 nuclear deal. The deal limited Iranian nuclear capacities in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Following warnings from Iran, Mr Trump said that the US would respond in the event of retaliation for Soleimani's death, "perhaps in a disproportionate manner". Trump administration officials though have contradicted the US president on his controversial threat to target Iranian cultural sites. Such acts could be considered war crimes and Secretary of Defence Mark Esper said, "we will follow the laws of armed conflict".DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
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