Without question, Soleimani is the most powerful general in the Middle East today; he is also one of Iran’s most popular people. Despite its ongoing economic woes, today’s Iran has fashioned itself into one of the premier military and diplomatic powers in the Middle East. Iran has pioneered a unique strategy that combines power and state in a potent admixture a strategy that is evident today in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.

The principal architect of each of these policies

One man is recognized as the principal architect of each of these policies: Major General Qassem Soleimani, long-time chief of the Quds Force, a crack special forces battalion of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Creation of Shia arc

More than anyone else, Soleimani has been responsible for the creation of an arc of influence which Iran terms its “Axis of Resistance” extending from the Gulf of Oman through Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon to the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

Qasem Soleimani, was an Iranian major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and, from 1998 until his death, commander of its Quds Force, a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations.

Soleimani began his military career at the beginning of the Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s, during which he eventually commanded the 41st Division. He was later involved in extraterritorial operations, providing military assistance to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Helped bolster the Syrian government

In 2012, Soleimani helped bolster the Syrian government, a key Iranian ally, during the Syrian Civil War, particularly in its operations against ISIL and its offshoots. Soleimani also assisted in the command of the combined Iraqi government and Shia militia forces that advanced against ISIL in 2014–2015.

Early life

Soleimani was born on 11 March 1957. He was born in the village of Qanat-e Malek, Kerman Province, In his youth, he moved to the city of Kerman and worked as a construction worker to help his father .In 1975, he began working as a contractor for the Kerman Water Organizat .

personality

When he spoke, he did so politely and simply in a pillow-soft tenor, rarely raising his voice. His face gently frosted with a close-cropped white beard, his dreamy eyes seeming to shine with the recollection of a fond memory, He is short in stature a fact he has been known to highlight, dubbing himself “the smallest soldier.”

Military career

Soleimani joined the Revolutionary war Guard (IRGC) in 1979 following the Iranian Revolution. On 22 September 1980, Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), Soleimani joined the battlefield serving as the leader of a military company, consisting of men from Kerman whom he assembled and trained. 

He quickly earned a reputation for bravery, and rose through the ranks because of his role in the successful operations in retaking the lands Iraq had occupied, eventually becoming the commander of the 41st Tharallah Division while still in his 20s, participating in most major operations.

He was also engaged in leading and organizing irregular warfare missions deep inside Iraq carried out by the Ramadan Headquarters. After the war, during the 1990s, he was an IRGC commander in Kerman Province.

Command of Quds Force

Qasim Suleimani was appointed commander of the Revolutionary Guards Corps in Quds Force in 2003, at the same time as the Taliban’s rise in Afghanistan.

activities

• Command of Quds Force
• retake southern Lebanon
• Soleimani strengthened the relationship between Quds Force and Hezbollah, and supported to retake southern Lebanon.
• Operations in Aleppo
• Soleimani had a decisive impact on the theater of operations, which led to a strong advance in southern Aleppo
• the Battle of Fallujah.
• War against ISIS in Iraq

martyrdom

Soleimani was martyred in a targeted U.S. drone strike on 3 January 2020 in Baghdad, Iraq. Also martyr were Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) deputy head, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.