{"id":6287,"date":"2020-01-03T10:31:12","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T10:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/box5917.temp.domains\/~iriacom\/\/news\/?p=6287"},"modified":"2020-01-03T11:13:19","modified_gmt":"2020-01-03T11:13:19","slug":"us-airstrike-kills-top-iran-general-in-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/us-airstrike-kills-top-iran-general-in-iraq\/","title":{"rendered":"US airstrike kills top Iran general in Iraq"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>U.S. kills Iran&#8217;s most powerful general in Baghdad airstrike pushing the Middle East into chaos<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Iran&#8217;s most powerful military commander, General Qasem Soleimani, has been killed in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq.<\/p>\n<p>The Pentagon confirmed that U.S. forces have taken \u201cdecisive defensive action by killing Soleimani \u201cat the direction of the president\u201d. The White House claimed in a statement that \u201cGeneral Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Me5DMvMgSp\">https:\/\/t.co\/Me5DMvMgSp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WhiteHouse\/status\/1212934433206079488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Iranian Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced three-day mourning period and vowed a \u201cvigorous revenge is waiting for the criminals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has condemned the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran&#8217;s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and called it an \u201cact of international terrorism.\u201d In his tweet, Zarif said: \u201cThe US bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6290\" style=\"width: 539px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/box5917.temp.domains\/~iriacom\/\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Iraqi-Security-Media-posted-this-photo-of-the-aftermath-of-the-strike-that-killed-Quassem-Soleimani-and-Abu-Mahdi-al-Muhandis-at-Baghdad-airport.-CREDIT-FACEBOOK%40SECMEDCELL.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6290\" class=\" wp-image-6290\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/box5917.temp.domains\/~iriacom\/\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Iraqi-Security-Media-posted-this-photo-of-the-aftermath-of-the-strike-that-killed-Quassem-Soleimani-and-Abu-Mahdi-al-Muhandis-at-Baghdad-airport.-CREDIT-FACEBOOK%40SECMEDCELL.jpg?resize=529%2C347\" alt=\"Iraqi Security Media posted this photo of the aftermath of the strike that killed Qasem Soleimani at Baghdad airport. Photo: Facebook\/@SecMedCell\" width=\"529\" height=\"347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Iraqi-Security-Media-posted-this-photo-of-the-aftermath-of-the-strike-that-killed-Quassem-Soleimani-and-Abu-Mahdi-al-Muhandis-at-Baghdad-airport.-CREDIT-FACEBOOK%40SECMEDCELL.jpg?w=800&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Iraqi-Security-Media-posted-this-photo-of-the-aftermath-of-the-strike-that-killed-Quassem-Soleimani-and-Abu-Mahdi-al-Muhandis-at-Baghdad-airport.-CREDIT-FACEBOOK%40SECMEDCELL.jpg?resize=300%2C197&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 529px) 100vw, 529px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6290\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Iraqi Security Media posted this photo of the aftermath of the strike that killed Qasem Soleimani at Baghdad airport. Photo: Facebook\/@SecMedCell<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #333333;\">The assassination could lead to\u00a0escalation in the region<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The deadly airstrike is likely to escalate tensions between the U.S. and Iran but the real threat is to the regional countries. Analysts agreed that Soleimani was considered an irreplaceable figure for the Iranian regime and his killing of such a revered figure would have implications on the whole region.<\/p>\n<p>Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said the attack was an &#8220;assassination&#8221; and condemned it as an act of aggression.<\/p>\n<p>US Senator Chris Murphy has warned that Soleimani&#8217;s killing could spark a &#8220;potential massive regional war.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;One reason we don\u2019t generally [assassinate] foreign political officials is the belief that such action will get more, not less, Americans killed,&#8221; Murphy said on Twitter. &#8220;That should be our real, pressing and grave worry tonight.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #333333;\">Who was Soleimani?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, 62, commanded the Quds Force, an elite paramilitary army that reports directly to the Iranian Supreme Leader.<\/p>\n<p>Soleimani, known for his quiet demeanor, radiated such charisma and intelligence that earned him the respect of his adversaries.<\/p>\n<p>Born in a poor mountain village in the east of Iran, he began working at the age of 13 to help his father pay back a government loan.<\/p>\n<p>Soleimani\u2019s career began soon after Iran\u2019s 1979 revolution. He stood out for his skills and brilliance as a Revolutionary Guard soldier during the Iran-Iraq War, and was named head of the Quds Force in 1998.<\/p>\n<p>He has been described as the architect of Iran&#8217;s strategy to exert its influence from Tehran to the Mediterranean Sea. Soleimani is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of U.S. service members, according to administration officials.<\/p>\n<p>In 2008, he wrote in a letter to American commander David Petraeus became famous: \u201cGeneral Petraeus, you should know that I, Qassem Suleimani, control the policy for Iran with respect to Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza, and Afghanistan. The ambassador in Baghdad is a Quds force member. The individual who\u2019s going to replace him is a Quds force member.\u201d Petraeus, in a 2008 letter to the then-US defence secretary, described Suleimani as \u201ca truly evil figure\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. kills Iran&#8217;s most powerful general in Baghdad airstrike pushing the Middle East into chaos Iran&#8217;s most [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"U.S. kills Iran's most powerful general in Baghdad airstrike pushing the Middle East into chaos","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[44,1,125],"tags":[30,4,356,5,7],"class_list":["post-6287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east","category-news","category-united-states","tag-iran","tag-iraq","tag-middle-east","tag-military","tag-u-s"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/A-file-photo-dated-Sept-18-2016-shows-Iranian-Revolutionary-Guards-Quds-Force-commander-Qasem-Soleimani-in-Tehran-Iran.-Photo-Iranian-Supreme-Leader-Press-Office.jpg?fit=690%2C370&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7jJWb-1Dp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6287"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6294,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6287\/revisions\/6294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}