Many view Quds Force commander’s death as ‘catastrophic’ for Islamic Republic, with supreme leader vowing ‘severe revenge’
Early on Friday, a US drone targeted Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, head of Iran’s Quds Force and one of the most powerful figures in the Islamic Republic. The drone attack killed Soleimani and several others, including Iraqi Shi’ite paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
Thousands of people, including the Iraqi prime minister, took to the streets of Baghdad on Saturday during a funeral procession for Soleimani and the others.
As head of Quds Force, the elite branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Soleimani was the architect of Iran’s clandestine operations. US President Donald Trump accused him of planning an imminent attack on US forces.
Many have described Soleimani’s death as “catastrophic” to the Islamic Republic’s influence in the region, and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed to take “severe revenge.”
The Media Line spoke with Daoud Kuttab, a Palestinian-American journalist based in Amman who has long written for a number of media outlets in the Middle East, on the possible consequences of the assassination.
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