TEHRAN, July 9 — For nearly two decades, Qasem Soleimani was the face of Iran’s shadow war across the Middle East, a commander who built a network of militias and proxies that extended from Tehran to the Mediterranean. On January 3, 2020, that network lost its architect. Born March 11, 1957, in the religious city of Qom, Soleimani joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 1979, the year of Iran’s Islamic Revolution.
He rose through the ranks to take command of the IRGC’s Quds Force in 1998, an elite unit responsible for foreign operations and supporting allied militant groups. By the time of his death, he was widely considered the second most powerful figure in Iran, behind only Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Architect of Influence
Soleimani’s reach was vast. When the Syrian Civil War erupted in 2011, he became instrumental in propping up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, deploying Iranian resources and coordinating with Russian air power to turn the tide of the conflict. In Iraq, he helped organize and fund Iranian-backed militias, including Kata’ib Hezbollah, a group that would later be blamed for attacks on U.S. personnel and interests.
The United States had long viewed Soleimani as a threat. The U.S. Department of State designated him a terrorist in 2005, a label that placed him among the most-wanted figures in America’s counterterrorism efforts.
For years, he moved openly across the region, meeting with militia commanders and Iraqi politicians, often photographed in military fatigues with a calm, almost paternal demeanor.
The Strike and Aftermath
It was near Baghdad International Airport, in the early hours of January 3, 2020, that a U.S. drone strike ended Soleimani’s life. Alongside him was Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a senior Iraqi militia commander, and several others. The strike was a dramatic escalation in the long-running confrontation between Washington and Tehran.
Iran’s state media and the IRGC quickly confirmed his death. Within hours, Supreme Leader Khamenei appointed Esmail Ghaani, a longtime deputy, as Soleimani’s successor as Quds Force commander.
Ghaani, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war and a specialist in Afghan and Iraqi affairs, inherited a sprawling network built over decades. The strike sent shockwaves through the region and the world. In Iran, millions lined the streets for Soleimani’s funeral procession, a display of public grief that underscored his status as a national hero to many.
The U.S. administration at the time argued the strike was necessary to prevent imminent attacks on American personnel, a justification that remains debated.
What Remains
Six years later, the Quds Force continues its operations under Ghaani’s command. Iran’s network of militias in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen remains active, though the loss of Soleimani’s strategic vision and personal relationships has been felt. His death did not dismantle Iran’s regional influence, but it removed the man who had been its most effective architect.
For the families of American service members killed by Iranian-backed militias, and for the U.S. intelligence community that tracked Soleimani for years, the strike was a moment of both closure and consequence. The region has seen cycles of retaliation and restraint since that night at Baghdad airport.
What to watch next: As Iran continues to expand its drone and missile programs, and as its proxies test the limits of U.S. deterrence, the question remains whether any single commander—or any single strike—can truly reshape the balance of power in the Middle East. Soleimani’s legacy, for better or worse, is still being written.
