Analysis | Soleimani killing: Iran’s options for revenge on Trump aren’t limited to its military

Among the other avenues open to Tehran are the resuscitation of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria

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An Iraqi woman attends the funeral of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:00am, 7 Jan 2020Updated: 11:59am, 8 Jan 2020

The assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Quds Force, comes in the wake of a recent escalation of Iran-US tensions playing out primarily in Iraq, beginning with an attack on December 27 which killed an American civilian contractor.

The US blamed Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH), an Iran-aligned Iraqi militia, and carried out air strikes against five KH facilities in Iraq and Syria, killing some 25 KH operatives and wounding dozens more. Iran retaliated by mobilising its Iraqi militias, who proceeded to besiege the American Embassy in Baghdad, before withdrawing on New Year’s Day. Two days later, Soleimani was targeted and killed, upending the region.

Whether the assassination was a direct response to these events or the result of unexpected intelligence, as some reports are suggesting, it is part of a larger context of escalating belligerence between the US and Iran.

The Trump Administration’s policy of “maximum pressure” was designed to change Iranian behaviour. It led Tehran to adopt a “maximum resistance” strategy to counter American policy. Both approaches have failed.

The assassination of Soleimani takes the confrontation between both sides to a new level. The general was the architect of Iran’s grand strategy in the Middle East and was instrumental in the construction of Iran’s vast network of proxy forces across the region.

To the many political and military assets he oversaw in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, he was the ultimate authority and arbiter. He was the most influential Iranian official in the region and a powerful and extremely popular figure within Iran itself.

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.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Among the other avenues open to Tehran are the resuscitation of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria

Among the other avenues open to Tehran are the resuscitation of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria