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How Qassem Soleimani's Killing Diminished Iran's Middle East Hegemony

(Arab News-Saudi Arabia) Christopher Hamill-Stewart - Six months ago, a U.S. missile brought to an end the 23-year military career of the Middle East's most dangerous man: Qassem Soleimani, head of the Quds Force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) expeditionary arm. The Quds network of proxies has assassinated foreign politicians, laid siege to cities, and fomented chaos across the Middle East. Dr. Nima Mina, Professor of Iranian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, noted that Soleimani's successor, Esmail Qaani, "doesn't have Soleimani's ability to bring together people and to attract new recruits." Qaani may be experienced in managing Afghanistan and Pakistan, but "he's not an expert in the critical areas west of Iran where the Quds Force is engaged: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. Qaani doesn't even speak Arabic." By monitoring social media, Mina said, it has become clear that "among young members of the Basij (IRGC militia) in Syria, the mood is very low; they're pessimistic." In Iraq, two attempts to install an Iran-friendly prime minister ended with failure, mass protests and Iranian consulates going up in flames. Iraq now has a U.S.-friendly prime minister - a man rumored to have provided the U.S. with intelligence that led to the killing of Soleimani.
2020-06-09 00:00:00
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