The Iranian theocracy on Thursday commemorated the fifth anniversary of the death of Lt. Gen. Qasem Soleimani of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the leader of the world's worst state sponsor of terrorism.
Soleimani was killed in 2020 in a drone strike ordered by former and future president Donald Trump.
At Soleimani's wishes, the administration began the grueling event a day early. killed local time in Iraq on January 3, 2020, coordinating a terrorist attack against Americans with Iraqi Shiite militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
Muhandis was the founder of Kataib Hezbollah (KH), the first Iraqi Shiite militia to be designated a foreign terrorist organization by the US government in 2009. He and several senior officials were killed in the same drone strike that killed Soleimani.
KH was doing much of Iran's dirty work in Iraq at the time, hitting American military positions with rocket attacks and killing an American civilian contractor in late December 2019. Soleimani was also the mastermind behind the December 31, 2019 attack on the US embassy in Iran. Baghdad. playing cards said He ordered a drone strike to remove Soleimani because he was “planning a very large attack and we captured him.”
WATCH — President Trump warns Iran: If you attack me, your country will be 'blown to smithereens':
Soleimani is person in charge for the deaths of hundreds of Americans during his 15-year career as commander of the Quds Force, an Revolutionary Guard dedicated to inciting terrorism and destabilizing governments in the Middle East. He praised this achievement. The Obama administration still recognized Soleimani as a suitable target for sanctions, even as it fumbled with placating Iran and funneling cash to terror masterminds to pave the way for Barack Obama's 2015 nuclear deal. was.
In Iran's national mythology, both Soleimani and Muhandi are depicted as “martyrs” to the cause of the Islamic revolution, with Soleimani deified to the point of sainthood. His death in Baghdad has been described as a cruel and unjust “assassination,” but there is no mention of what Soleimani was doing in Iraq at the time of his death.
“Martyr Soleimani's consistent strategy was to revive the resistance front. He always sought to energize the resistance,” said Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. said on Thursday.
Khamenei strangely described Soleimani as an “unparalleled” champion in the fight against He denied terrorism and insisted that his history of fighting to protect Iran's “sacred temples” “must remain forever in our political teachings.”
“Khamenei believes that all important regional and global events affect our country's affairs, and based on this perspective and assessment, he can detect and prevent dangers from outside our borders. “We have taken action to correct the situation,” he said. Explain why most of Soleimani's time as commander of the Quds Force was spent funneling Iranian cash to terrorists, militias, and rebel groups in other countries.
Many of Soleimani's writings have been erased by the government. terrible year From Israel's annihilation of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon after the October 7 atrocity to the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, Iran's proxies have suffered. Khamenei nevertheless insisted that Iran's so-called “axis of resistance” would “win”.
“Defenders of the shrine say that despite the huge investments and costs of malicious actors, the flag of resistance remains held high, and that our enemies will bring it down in Lebanon and Palestine.” “We have shown that we cannot and will not be able to bring down Syria, Iraq and Iran,” he said. He did not elaborate on which “shrines” Hamas was ostensibly protecting when Hamas terrorists paraglided into Israel on October 7, 2023, intent on raping and murdering.
Khamenei also promised that Iran would somehow regain control of Syria from al-Qaeda-affiliated Sunni Muslim militants. overthrown Bashar al-Assad, a client of the Iranian government, carried out a lightning attack last month.
“Syria belongs to the Syrian people, and those who invaded Syrian territory will definitely be forced to retreat one day before the strength of the brave Syrian youth,” Khamenei said, adding that the overthrow of Assad was a plot. The government maintained its position that the by the US and Israel.
Iranian state media ran propaganda-filled reports on Wednesday and Thursday. Career review Regarding Commander Soleimani, solemn meeting On Thursday, a meeting was held between Ayatollah Khamenei and relatives of Soleimani and other “martyrs.”
At that meeting, Khamenei said, said Iran's enemies believe that if they believe that Iran's setbacks, from the death of Soleimani to the fall of Assad, have paralyzed the regime in Tehran, they are making a “grave mistake” based on “a lack of proper analysis, understanding, and knowledge of the problem.” ”.
“Those who are rampaging today, please know that one day they will be trampled under the feet of the faithful,” he vowed.
Tom Tugendhat, former UK Minister of National Security claimed On Thursday, Khamenei said he was wrong and that Soleimani's removal will go down in history as the moment when Iran's tyranny began to crumble.
I'm always amazed that some people can be far more influential and important to an organization than you realize at the time. The reality is that when Qasem Suleimani was killed in January 2020, he had all his relationships, all his arrangements with everyone in the region in mind.
He was replaced, but not really. Because no one could replace the 20 years of personal relationships he had. That's just unpicking. So I have to say, I know it's unpopular, but President Trump was effectively the trigger that started the fall of the Assad regime.
Young members of the IRGC are saying two things. The first is that the old guard is corrupt and incompetent. That's why Hezbollah was hung out to dry and defeated. That's why old allies like Assad fell apart…The second thing they're saying is that they're hearing rumors, I don't know how far that's true, but they're the Ayatollah. And I've heard rumors that the Tehran government wants to talk to the American side, find a way out of this situation, and maybe even endure.
Tugendhat is not the first to claim Soleimani may have been present. virtually irreplaceable. As he said, Iran's terrorist leaders have spent years and vast amounts of Iranian funds building relationships with notoriously paranoid and troublesome rebel groups and militias. By all accounts, he was very good at winning the trust of these groups and persuading them to act with deadly effect in Iran's interests.
Some regional analysts believe Soleimani's death sets the stage for the collapse of Iranian proxies across the Middle East after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. Notable exception Yemen's Houthi rebels began to suffer serious operational problems after Soleimani was gone. Over the past few months, Lebanon's Hezbollah has been crushed by Israel to a degree that was almost unthinkable before the start of the Gaza war, and the Syrian army was reduced to dust within days.
Iranian authorities have been threatening retaliation against Donald Trump for Soleimani's death since January 2020. Big Senior Commander of the Quds Force. General Iraj Masjedi took similar action again on Wednesday. make a call President Trump will be “avenged” and “indicted” for killing “an icon and key figure in the fight against terrorism.”
“The American president assassinated an Iranian saint, a man who was a symbol and a major force in the fight against terrorism,” Masjedi claimed.
