The strike on Soleimani
For many in the region, the head of Iran’s Quds Force was no different from Osama bin Laden
member. The individual who is going to replace him is a Quds Force member.”
The death of Soleimani has had significant implications in the region, tipping the balance of power against Tehran and ridding the Middle East of a top terror leader. For many in the region, Soleimani was no different from Osama bin Laden. In fact, he was more dangerous in some respects because he operated under the legitimacy of a state, ruled over a powerful military organization with tens of thousands of members, and had a budget of billions of dollars to advance his fundamentalist objectives. Soleimani was masterful in carrying out extraterritorial operations, including organizing, supporting, training, arming and financing predominantly Shiite militia groups. He prioritized launching wars directly or indirectly via his proxies; fomenting unrest in other nations to advance the regime’s ideological and hegemonic interests; attacking and invading cities and countries; and plotting the assassination of foreign political figures and powerful Iranian dissidents worldwide. For example, under his leadership, the Quds Force was accused of failed plans to bomb the
Saudi and Israeli embassies in the US, and to assassinate then-Saudi Ambassador to the US Adel Al-Jubeir. The Quds Force also encouraged unrest in Iraq by providing deadly, sophisticated bombs that killed many people, including Iraqis and Americans. An investigation also revealed that Soleimani’s Quds Force was behind the 2005 assassination of Lebanon’s Sunni Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
In addition, Soleimani’s death undermined other non-Shiite extremist groups in the region because he was successful at making alliances with the likes of Al-Qaeda. For instance, while under Soleimani’s rule, Iran’s military was implicated in the 9/11 attacks. In 2011, US Federal Judge George Daniels issued an order stating that senior leaders of the Quds Force, Iran’s Lebanese Shiite proxy Hezbollah, and Al-Qaeda were jointly responsible for the attacks. Iran provided “safe harbor for some Al-Qaeda leaders,” while “the (Quds) Force’s senior leaders have longstanding ties to Al-Qaeda and, since the fall of Afghanistan, have provided some Al-Qaeda leaders with travel documents and safe haven,” according to a European intelligence analyst. Christopher Harmer, a retired US Navy commander, told The New York Times that Soleimani is “a more stately version of Osama bin Laden.” Based on my research at
Harvard University, there are more than 250 terrorist groups worldwide, with many different religious and sociopolitical backgrounds. During Soleimani’s rule, about 25 percent of these were funded, trained or supported by his organization. This may explain why terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda did not attack Iran. The ruling clerics lost an irrepressible general because Soleimani had developed deep personal connections with the leaders of many militia groups across the region over the past four decades. He and the Quds Force infiltrated top security, political, intelligence and military infrastructures in several nations, including Syria and Iraq. He had a major say in which foreign leaders and politicians ruled in Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon and Syria, and he had operatives and agents worldwide.
Soleimani’s death not only inflicted irreparable damage on Iran’s theocratic establishment, but it also rid the Middle East of its most dangerous man. Nevertheless, the Iranian regime will continue to do whatever it can to pursue its hegemonic ambitions and military adventurism in the region.
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