January 3rd marked the anniversary of the drone strike that eliminated Ghasem Soleimani, the mastermind behind Iran’s terror activities in the Middle East, a day after the U.S. Embassy was attacked by Pro-Iran militias.
The Iranian Supreme Leader promised a “harsh revenge” on Soleimani’s funeral. On January 8, 2020, IRGC claimed responsibility for an attack on Ayn Al Assad base in Iraq with no casualties reported. A few hours later, the Ukraine International Airline, Flight 752 was shot down and all 176 passengers were killed. It took IRGC a couple of days to acknowledge downing the airplane in fear of a swift U.S. response.
On November 27, 2020, Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was eliminated in an ambush near Tehran. Many believe failure in a revenge to Soleimani’s death emboldened other players to kill Iran’s top nuclear scientist.
Who was Ghasem Soleimani?
Ghasem Soleimani was the head of the Iranian Quds Force, the foreign branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He had a direct role in empowering Shia militias in Iraq and sending thousands of mercenaries to Syria in support of Bashar Al Assad. The Syrian Minister of Defense, General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub, admitted that Soleimani helped him oppress the protests in the city of Homs when the Syrian revolution started in 2011.
Soleimani was also the main sponsor of Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen and Hamas in Palestine.
In a recent interview, Mahmoud al-Zahar, former foreign minister and senior Hamas leader, confirmed receiving $22 million in cash from Soleimani during a visit to Tehran in 2006.
In Iran, he played a major role in deploying foreign militias to suppress the uprisings since 2009, when Iranian soldiers rejected to shoot at their own fellow citizens.
People in Iran also blame Soleimani for the sanctions and for spending the country’s wealth on terrorism and foreign militias.
One Year Later
As expected, Soleimani’s first anniversary was full of threats by Iranian officials.
Iran’s judiciary chief, Ibrahim Raissi, warned that Soleimani’s killers will not be safe on Earth. “Do not presume that someone, as the president of America, who appeared as a murderer or ordered a murder, may be immune from justice being carried out. Never,” he said.
The Iranian parliament (Majlis) voted to mandate the Quds Force to accomplish the “harsh revenge”; expel U.S. from the region and to destroy Israel in the coming 20 years.
During recent days, Iran also ramped up uranium enrichment and seized a South Korean tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
In the wake of threats from Iranian officials, Pentagon decided to keep Aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and its strike group in the Middle East.
“USS Nimitz will now remain on station in the U.S. Central Command area of operations. No one should doubt the resolve of the United States of America,” Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller said in a statement.
Iran is in dire need to save face as it lost its top military commander and top nuclear scientist in 2020. No retaliation on Soleimani’s anniversary, is not a sign of patience or modesty but rather a sign of weakness. The takeaway from last year’s targeted operation against the number one terrorist in the world is that force is the only language the rulers of Iran understand.
Source: The Levant News https://thelevantnews.com/en/2021/01/one-year-after-soleimani/
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