Trump orders killing of IRGC chief; Iran calls act "foolish" & threatens retaliation

General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed by US air raid at Baghdad's international airport on Friday, along with six others. The White House and the Pentagon confirmed the death of Iran's powerful military head by saying that the attack was directed by US President Donald Trump on January 3. To assert further, the US President posted a picture of the country's flag on his Twitter account. 

"General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more," the Department of Defense said.

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Iran's vows 'harsh retaliation' 

Citing a Revolutionary Guard statement, Iranian state television said Soleimani was “martyred” in an attack by U.S. helicopters near the airport, without elaborating. Soon after, the advisor to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, said that the US must wait for "repercussions" for crossing the "red line." The strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iran-backed militias in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF, the officials said. On January 3, Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei declared three days of mourning for Soleimani, and, threatened the US saying "a harsh retaliation is waiting."

In strong condemnation, Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif called the act, orchestrated by Trump, as 'international terrorism' and 'foolish escalation.' In a tweet, he said, "The US bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism." Javad Zarif said, "The US' act of international terrorism, targeting & assassinating General Soleimani—THE most effective force fighting Daesh (ISIS), Al Nusrah, Al Qaeda et al—is extremely dangerous and a foolish escalation. The US bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism." 

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The death of General Soleimani and Iraq's pro-Hezbollah Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis marks a significant watershed in the Middle Eastern policy and the Iran-US relations. In the past decade, under the leadership of Soleimani, Iran conducted proxy wars across the Middle East region in Iraq, Yemen, Syria, and parts of Lebanon controlled by Hezbollah. He was instrumental in shaping Iran's influence in the region, which was threatened by arch-foes --the West, Saudi Arabia, and Israeli. 

Donald Trump has time and again showed a willingness to end the US military presence in the area. "We’re getting out. Let someone else fight over this long blood-stained sand. The job of our military is not to police the world," he had declared back in 2019. However, with concerns of a bloody aftermath of this attack, the killing of Suleimani is likely to be a climacteric moment for the US in the Middle East.

Soleimani's IRGC, which was designated as a foreign terrorist organisation by Donald Trump in April last year, backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the 2011 civil war and to battle the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIS). Soleimani had been rumoured dead several times, including in a 2006 airplane crash that killed other military officials in northwestern Iran and following a 2012 bombing in Damascus that killed top aides of Assad. Rumours circulated in November 2015 that Soleimani was killed or seriously wounded leading forces loyal to Assad as they fought around Syria’s Aleppo.

The attack came amid tensions with the United States after a New Year’s Eve attack by Iran-backed militias on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The two-day embassy attack which ended Wednesday prompted President Donald Trump to order about 750 U.S. soldiers deployed to the Middle East. However, the tensions between US-Iran take root in Trump’s decision in May 2018 to withdraw the U.S. from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, struck under his predecessor.

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(with AP inputs)