World Holds Its Breath After An American Strike In
Iraq Kills Top Iranian Commander:
"U.S. military strike on a pair of SUVs near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq has
killed Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force, the division of Iran's powerful
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) responsible for militant and terrorist
activities outside of the country. It is difficult to imagine that the Iranian regime won't
feel compelled to take some form of action against any and all powers it holds
responsible, possibly beyond the United States, to include its regional allies and
partners, such as Israel and Saudi Arabia. This, in turn, could easily prompt responses
from those actors, creating a dangerous spiral of escalation, at least in for the near
future.
"At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action
to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist
Organization," a statement from the Pentagon said. "General Soleimani was actively
developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and
throughout the region."
This statement also blames Soleimani and the Iranian government directly for
directing the rocket barrage on the K-1 base in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on
Dec. 27, 2019, which killed a U.S. contractor and wounded a number of American
troops. Kata'ib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia, which the United States has
also designated as a terrorist group, carried out that strike."
"Whatever happens now, it is safe to say that the geopolitical situation in the Middle
East, and likely beyond, has dramatically and fundamentally changed in ways that are
still very much unfolding."
See:
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...nian-commander