Soleimani’s death anniversary: ‘The Shadow Commander’ talks about end of Iran’s influence in Iraq

Ali Ragab

On the first anniversary of the assassination of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, Iranian researcher Arash Azizi revealed that Tehran’s mullahs did not expect the United States to assassinate the “Shadow Commander” and the maker of Iranian influence in the Middle East region.

In his book about Qassem Soleimani, “The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, the US, and Iran’s Global Ambitions”, Azizi made it clear that Soleimani played a major role in creating Iran’s influence in Afghanistan, toppling the Taliban movement, as well as in Iraq and toppling the Saddam Hussein regime, the manufacture of Shiite militias in Mesopotamia, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s call to intervene in Syria, as well as his orders to assassinate late Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard and intelligence generals, as well as Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, did not expect the administration of US President Donald Trump to assassinate Soleimani, as he represented a red line that the United States would not cross, so the assassination of the commander on January 3, 2020 was a shock to Tehran’s mullahs.

Azizi mentioned in his book that Soleimani had a degree of confidence and arrogance to visit Iraq without the need for routine coordination and even without the knowledge of the Iraqi prime minister, in an insult to the sponsoring state, which contributed to the national anger against him in Iraq. During the anti-government protests in Iraqi cities, which included burning flags and attacking Iranian consulates, Soleimani’s image showed a negative impact, as his opponents rejoiced in some parts of the country after his assassination.

Azizi said that the assassination of Soleimani, according to most senior officials in Iran, was far more unexpected than a military confrontation with the United States, adding that Iran’s leaders considered the assassination of the Quds Force commander by the United States a red line that the United States would never cross.

The author pointed out that writing the name of Qassem Soleimani on the wall of the US embassy in Baghdad, in addition to his holding the strings of the field and political game of Iranian foreign policy, especially in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan, is a turning point in the decision to break the red line to assassinate a high-ranking commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard at the hands of United States.

According to Azizi, the situation dates back to his death and perhaps the beginning of the end of Iran and its shadow leaderships in Iraq.

Soleimani was born in the village of Qanat Malik in the Iranian province of Kerman in 1957. He worked in the water and sanitation administration before joining the Revolutionary Guard and turning into the most prominent leader since the establishment of modern Iran.

In 1998, Soleimani was appointed to command the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, but the unit was not designated until 2001 to thwart US plans in the Middle East.