US kills powerful Iranian general Ghassem Soleimani in Baghdad strike
The head of the special forces of the Revolutionary Guards was in a convoy of the Popular Mobilization, a coalition of Shiite militias accused of carrying out attacks against the Americans.
General Ghassem Soleimani in September 2016 in Tehran
The drone fire that fell on the night of Thursday, January 2 to Friday, January 3, near the Baghdad international airport had a very specific target: vehicles circulating near the air cargo terminal. This convoy was made up of members of the Popular Mobilization (Hachd Al-Chaabi, MP), a coalition of Shiite militias now integrated into the Iraqi state, and several “guests”.
A spectacular bombardment, which comes three days after an unprecedented attack on the American embassy by pro-Iranian demonstrators, and while the Iraqi territory seems to become over the days the scene of an episode of high tension between the United States and Iran.
Among the five dead confirmed in this new attack, prominent figures in this geopolitical standoff. Starting with the powerful Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, a major figure in the Tehran regime, according to information from Iraqi state television confirmed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Trained in the guards of the revolution, and become head of their elite unit, the Al-Quds forces.
In charge of the Islamic Republic’s external operations, this charismatic figure has notably exercised a key influence in political negotiations since 2018 with a view to forming a government in Iraq. This 62-year-old man with a salt and pepper beard had also become a real star in Iran in recent years and had very many followers on his Instagram account.
Trump tweets an American flag
The militias of the MP, whose convoy was targeted, also announced the death of Abu Mahdi Al-Mohandes, their number two. This coalition of paramilitaries, in the process, accused the United States of being responsible for the bombing. A few hours later, President Donald Trump published on his Twitter account the simple image of an American flag, before the Pentagon indicates that he “killed” General Soleimani , at the request of the man who is also commander-in-chief armies.
“I appreciate the courageous action of President Donald Trump against the Iranian aggression , “ quickly greeted on social networks the influential Republican senator Lindsey Graham, the president’s close ally.
“President Trump has just thrown a stick of dynamite into a powder keg, and he owes the American people an explanation,” said former vice president Joe Biden, vying for the Democratic primary in preparation for the presidential election in november. “Trump’s dangerous escalation brings us closer to another disastrous war in the Middle East,” said Bernie Sanders, another favorite in the Democratic primary.
For the President of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who spoke on Friday, it is “a dangerous escalation in violence” :
“America – and the world – cannot afford an escalation of tensions that reaches a point of no return. “
Calls for revenge By Iran
In Iran and Iraq, calls for revenge are increasing. Iran and “free nations in the region” will take revenge on the United States, President Hassan Rohani promised in a statement posted on the government website:
“There is no doubt that the great nation of Iran and the other free nations in the region will take revenge on criminal America for this horrible murder. “
Earlier, the Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, had denounced an “extremely dangerous and reckless escalation” . “The United States bears responsibility for all the consequences of its renegade adventurism , “ added the diplomat.
On the Iraqi side, the resigning Prime Minister, Adel Abdel Mahdi, estimated that the American raid would “start a devastating war in Iraq” , denouncing “an aggression against Iraq, its state, its government and its people”.
Qais Al-Khazali, a commander of the Popular Mobilization, called on Friday “all the combatants” to be “ready” , “because what awaits us is a near conquest and a great victory,” he said. he writes. He is the leader of Asaïb Ahl Al-Haq, one of the most important factions of the MP.
Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr, on Friday, ordered his Mahdi Army fighters on Twitter to “stand by” , reactivating a militia officially dissolved for about a decade and which had sown the terror in the ranks of American soldiers in Iraq.
Three days of national mourning
The Iranian Supreme Guide declared three days of national mourning. On his Twitter account in Farsi, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls for revenge for the death of the general.
“Martyrdom is the reward for his tireless work during all these years . God willing, his work and his path will not stop there, and an implacable revenge awaits the criminals who have filled their hands with his blood and that of other martyrs. “
Iran summoned an official from the Swiss embassy on Friday to represent US interests in Tehran in the absence of diplomatic relations between the two countries. A National Security Council will be convened urgently in Tehran to consider Iran’s response to the attack, as calls for revenge have multiplied, such as that of the former head of the Revolutionary Guards, Mohsen Rezai. “Soleimani has joined our martyred brothers but our revenge on America will be terrible,” he wrote on Twitter.
For their part, the anti-power demonstrators exult in Baghdad. Dozens of Iraqis who have been conspiring for more than three months in Baghdad and his Iranian godfather sing and dance on Friday morning in Tahrir Square in the Iraqi capital, chanting in particular: “Qasem Soleimani, divine victory has arrived. “
Major turning point
This new episode represents in any case a major turning point for the whole region. Iraq, trapped between its American and Iranian allies for years, has been the scene of an escalation in recent weeks, which threatens to make the country a field of confrontation interposed for the two powers acting on its soil. A dozen rocket attacks have targeted American soldiers and diplomats since the end of October, killing an American subcontractor a week ago.
On Sunday evening, Washington, which accuses Shiite factions of the Popular Mobilization of being behind these unclaimed attacks, responded by bombing bases of one of them near the Syrian border, leaving 25 dead. On Tuesday, a crowd of pro-Iranian fighters and supporters attacked the American embassy in Baghdad, an unprecedented episode of violence that ended on Wednesday with the withdrawal of these men from the ultra-secure green zone, where the embassy is located. , by order of the MP.
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