A U.S. airstrike killed Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad today, the Pentagon said, a dramatic escalation of tensions between the two countries that could lead to widespread violence in the region and beyond.
The strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, which were responsible for the recent attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
The audacious airport strike is a potential turning point in the Middle East as U.S.-Iran relations teeter on the brink, and is expected to draw severe retaliation from Iran and and its Shiite allies against Israel and American interests.
Experts say that the killing of Soleimani will be viewed by Iran as a massive military provocation.
‘The pressure to retaliate will be immense,’ tweeted Middle East scholar and John Hopkins professor Vali Nasr.
‘Soleimani had cult hero status within IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) and among Shia militias in the region, and was personally the most popular regime figure in Iran,’ said Nasr.
The rockets landed near the air cargo terminal, burning two vehicles, killing at least seven and injuring several people.
A video circulated by Shiite militia groups showed, accompanied by the sound of wailing, the crumpled wreckage of the vehicle in which Soleimani purportedly was traveling.
A photograph claimed to show his bloodied, ash-covered hand wearing the same blood-red ring seen in earlier photos of him alive.
PMF officials said five of their members and two ‘guests’ were killed in the airstrike on their vehicles inside Baghdad International Airport.
The vehicles were reportedly receiving passengers from an airplane that had just landed in Baghdad after a flight from Syria.
The PMF official said the dead also included its airport protocol officer, identifying him as Mohammed Reda.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif called the attack an “act of international terrorism” and, in a message on Twitter, said the United States “bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism.”
Despite a long period of increasing tension between Iran and the Trump administration, which has vowed a tougher stance on Tehran’s support for proxy groups, the attack against an incomparable figure in Iran’s security establishment came as a surprise to many analysts, in part because it was seen as likely to ignite a significant Iranian response.
Ilan Goldenberg, who worked on Middle East issues during the Obama administration, characterized the move as a “massive game changer” in the region.
“Iran will seek revenge. It may escalate in Iraq, Lebanon, the gulf or elsewhere. It may attempt to target senior U.S. officials,” said Goldenberg, now a scholar with the Center for a New American Security. “Unfortunately, I highly doubt the Trump administration has thought out the next step or knows what to do now to avoid a regional war.”
The attack, authorized by President Trump, raises fresh questions about the president’s approach to the Middle East.
While Trump has employed bellicose rhetoric and authorized several strikes against the Syrian government, an ally of Tehran, he has repeatedly voiced his desire to get the United States out of costly wars in the Middle East.
He often accused former President Obama of wanting to take the nation to war with Iran, something that did not happen.
It’s not clear what action the Trump administration will take to protect U.S. diplomats and military personnel from what analysts said was likely Iranian retaliation for the attack.
Officials said they were taking steps to defend Americans. “We’re well aware of the possibility of an Iranian response,” one official said.
Already in the past week, the administration has deployed 750 troops from a special quick-action battalion from the 82nd Airborne Division to Kuwait, a staging ground for forces going into Iraq.
About 100 Marines were sent into Baghdad to protect the embassy after the militia siege.