New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: In an attack which have further escalated the tensions between the United States and Middle East, an airstrike by the US forces, on Friday, at the Baghdad International Airport killed eight people including one of the most important and popular figures of Iran, General Qassem Soleimani.
General Soleimani, who headed the Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, was seen as nemesis by the Americans and its allies. Soleimani, in Iran acquired a celebrity status as a leader of Revolutionary Guards’ foreign arm and his pivotal role during the fights with Syria and Iran. He also played a significant role in spreading the Iranian influence in other Middle East countries.
Born on 11 March 1957 in the village of Qanat-e Malek, Kerman Province, in a peasant family, Soleimani at his early age worked as a contractor in Iran. He found the limelight during the Iranian Revolution which led to the fall of Shah of Iran and Ayatollah Khomeini taking charge as the first Supreme Leader. Soleimani joined the Revolutionary war Guard (IRGC) in 1979.
Soleimani advanced rapidly in Iran. He joined the battlefield serving as the leader of a military company, consisting of men from Kerman whom he personally 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. Soleimani also established relations with Kurdish Iraqi leaders and the Shia Badr Organization, both of which were opposed to Iraq's Saddam Hussein.
In 2011, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khameini promoted Soleimani to the rank of Major General and described him as a living ‘martyr’.
His profile rose suddenly when he was pushed forward as the public face of Iran's intervention in the Syrian conflict from 2013, appearing in battlefield photos, documentaries -- and even being featured in a music video and animated film. He shored up support for Syria's president, Bashar-al-Assad, when he looked close to defeat in his country's civil war, and helped militiamen defeat the terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq.
He also survived several assassination attempts against him by Western, Israeli and Arab agencies over the past 20 years.
For many, Soleimani was the key architect of Iran's regional influence, leading the fight against jihadist forces and extending Iran's diplomatic heft in Iraq, Syria and beyond. Soleimani was a celebrity at home with tens of thousands of Instagram followers -- though his account was blocked last year. He wielded his regional clout publicly since 2018 when it was revealed that he had direct involvement in top-level talks over the formation of Iraq's government.