Qassem Soleimani, killed in a US strike, was the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps' elite Quds Force, and one of the most prominent and influential military figures in Iran. Involved in Iranian military activity in many countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan and the Caucasus states, Soleimani was considered one of closest people to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

The 61-year-old Major General started working at a young age and joined the Iranian Revolutionary Guards after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran and fought in the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-88.

Soleimani was named the head of the Quds Force in 1998 for his strategic thinking and leadership abilities. The Quds Force, an elite force within IRGC operates outside Iran to extend the country’s influence, training and spread the Islamic Revolution. The force was initially formed to help the Kurds in their fight against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, but later it began training forces such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, and carrying out attacks against regime opponents worldwide.

Soleimani has been linked with plotting several attacks and attempted attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets as well as on Americans in Iraq after the latter’s invasion of the country in 2003.

On other occasions, Soleimani reportedly cooperated with US to serve larger strategic goals of Tehran. For instance, a Haaretz report said that Soleimani helped the US to elect Iraq’s interim prime minister in 2010, in reining in Iraqi Shiite separatist Muqtada al-Sadr to stop targeting Americans, or intelligence sharing with the US when it attacked Afghanistan after the 9/11 attack.

In recent years he stepped into the light, appearing alongside Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other Shiite leaders.

Tensions between the US and Iran have soared since the Donald Trump administration announced in May 2018 that it was pulling out of the 2015 nuclear deal.

Earlier this year, Soleimani reportedly met with Iraqi militia members and told them to prepare for a proxy war, according to The Guardian, sparking fears in the US of renewed attacks on troops.

-with inputs from agencies

First Published:Jan 3, 2020 9:38 AM IST