BAGHDAD – Iran’s supreme leader has vowed “severe revenge” on those responsible for the death of top military commander Qasem Soleimani who was killed by an air strike at the Baghdad airport on Friday.
The 62-year-old Soleimani spearheaded Iran’s Middle East operations as head of the elite Quds Force – a unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Under his 21-year leadership of the Quds Force, Iran bolstered Hezbollah and other pro-Iranian militant groups in Lebanon; expanded its military presence in Iraq and Syria; and orchestrated Syria’s offensive against rebel groups in that country’s long civil war.
The air strike was ordered by United States (US) President Donald Trump who said the US took its action to stop – not start – a war. But the killing marks a major escalation in tensions. (BBC)
