Who was Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian commander killed by a US airstrike?
Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by a US airstrike ordered by President Donald Trump at Baghdad International Airport on Friday, was hailed as a hero in Iran -- brave, charismatic and beloved by the troops.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, once called him a"living martyr of the revolution." But the United States viewed Iran's top general as a ruthless killer. One of Iran's most powerful men, Soleimani cut a highly controversial figure. He was head of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, an elite unit that handles Iran's overseas operations -- and one deemed to be a foreign terrorist organization by the US.
Who are the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps? 01:55"He's been in combat his entire life. His soldiers love him. He's a quiet, charismatic guy, a strategic genius and a tactical operator," Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, a national security, intelligence and terrorism analyst, told CNN.Read More"These are all the kind of things, looking at him from the enemy's perspective, is going to create a great deal of angst in this part of the world.
Fareed: Iranian commander looms larger than any figure 01:09In a statement on Friday, the Defense Department said Soleimani was"actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region."It blamed the Iranian general for orchestrating attacks on coalition bases in Iraq in recent months, including an attack on December 27 that culminated in the deaths of an American contractor and Iraqi personnel.
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