QASEM SALAMI

Qasem Soleimani, the leader of Iran's Quds Force army, the extraterritorial wing of the country's Revolutionary Guard Corps, has been killed in a targeted U.S. drone strike on his convoy outside Baghdad International Airport in the early hours of this morning. MailOnline can reveal...


The Commander was travelling from Syria when he was hit by a near-silent MQ-9 Reaper drone. Also killed were four other IRGC members and the deputy head of Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Committee Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The strike has sparked mass hysteria of World War III on social media and increased tensions between Iran and the U.S. with the Supreme Leader vowing a 'Jihad of Resistance' and the State Department urging all American citizens to 'depart Iraq immediately'...

The reason for the unprecedented killing stems from the men's recent attack on the United States Embassy in Baghdad as well as to prevent an 'imminent threat' on American soldiers. It could also be seen as retaliation for the hundreds of U.S. personnel killed by IEDs during the 2003 Iraq War and the 1,500 Iranians killed by the Basij in recent protests. 'Iran's second-most powerful person' was also a key figurehead in the directing of militias in the Middle East with Iranian forces bolstering Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian Civil War...


Politicians were quick to react with Republicans backing the President's decision to take out 'the right fist of the Ayatollah' and 'mastermind of Iran's reign of terror'. Former National Security Advisor John Bolton went so far as to 'hope this is the first step to regime change in Tehran'. The Democrats were less congratulatory, recognising that Soleimani was a 'murderer' and 'architect behind the slaughter of countless lives' but that 'this reckless move escalates the situation with Iran'. Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn condemned the 'US assassination of Qasem Soleimani' calling it 'an extremely serious and dangerous escalation of conflict with global significance'...


Video footage has emerged showing Iraqis dancing in the street and Syrians in Idlib celebrating. 'Today we woke up to the news of Qassem Soleimani's death and we thank God for that,' said Mohammed Qetaz. 'Hopefully when we wake up tomorrow we will hear similar news on Hassan [Nasrallah], Bashar al-Assad and the [Vladimir] Putin.'



Qasem Soleimani was born in the village of Qanat-e Malek, Kerman. As a young boy he worked on a construction site to pay off his father's agricultural debts. Following the Revolution of 1979, he joined the IRGC advancing rapidly to become commander of the sepāh-e qods. He was feared by Iranians but held as a martyr by the country's hard-liners, part of the regime's 40-year propaganda machine. The Quds Force were a key ally to President Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian Civil War, killing and displacing millions of civilians behind the facade of fighting ISIS. His actions have destabilised the Middle East all to exert Shia influence across the region. The world is a much better place without him.