Qasem Soleimani’s death ‘bigger than Bin Laden’ and a ‘massive blow to Iran regime’, expert says
THE killing of General Qasem Soleimani is "bigger than bin Laden" and will be a "massive blow to the regime", says an expert on Iran.
Gen Soleimani was assassinated after his vehicle was blown to pieces in a US air strike on Friday.
Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation of Defence of Democracies took to twitter to share his thoughts after his death was made public.
"If it’s true Soleiman is dead, this is bigger than bin-Laden," he wrote.
"Bigger than [Hezbollah's Imad] Mugniyeh. Bigger than [Islamic state leader Abu Bakr] Baghdadi. For two decades, Soleiman has been the most powerul, savvy & effective terrorist on the planet.
"He's enjoyed full backing of powerful terrorist state. Irreplacable."
He also wrote: "If your view is Soleiman can easily be replaced, you know nothing about how he has completely dominated [Quds Force] & [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] for 20 yrs.
"Ops, intel, foreign relations, political warfare, strategy. It’s like losing your [Joint Chief of Staff] commander, CIA director and foreign minister — all at once.
"I imagine lots of Iranians will also wake up in a few hours with smiles on their faces. This is a massive blow to the regime."
The major general, who was tipped to be the country's future president, was among five killed in a US airstrike as he was leaving Baghdad airport on Friday.
He had landed after travelling from either Syria or Lebanon at around 12.30am when he was met by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of the pro-Iran Popular Mobilization forces in Iraq.
As the cars passed through a cargo area for an access road leading out of the airport, the vehicle was struck by at least two missiles by a US MQ9 Reaper drone which was being controlled remotely.
At least two missiles were fired at the vehicles - killing the general and others on board.
According Andrew deGrandpre, Deputy national security editor for the Washington Post, discussion of the Soleimani operation began last week.
From 1998 to his death aged 62, he was commander of Quds Force, a division primarily responsible or external military and clandestine operations.
The elite Quds Force was responsible for the Islamic Republic's foreign campaigns.
He was born to a family gripped by poverty and worked as a construction worker to help repay a debt his dad owed.
He joined the Revolutionary war Guard in 1979 following the Iranian Revolution, which forced the Shah out and Ayatollah Khomeini take power of the country.
Soleimani was fairly unknown until Iran was invaded in 2003 US invasion of Iraq, where American officials called for his killing.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei once called him a “living martyr of the revolution”.