Qasem Soleimani

Qasem Soleimani born on 11 March 1957, died on 3 January 2020). He was an Iranian Major General in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and, from 1998 until his death in 2020, commander of its Quds Force, a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations.

Soleimani was born in the village of Qanat-e Malek, Kerman Province. After he finished school, he moved to the city of Kerman and worked on a construction site to help repay his father's agricultural debts. In 1975, he began working as a contractor for the Kerman Water Organization. When not at work, he spent his time with weight training in local gyms, or attending the sermons of Hojjat Kamyab, a preacher and a protege of Ali Khamenei, who according to Soleimani spurred him to "revolutionary activities".

Soleimani began his military career at the start of the Iran–Iraq War during the 1980s, eventually commanding the 41st Division. He was later involved in extraterritorial operations, providing military assistance to Hezbollah in Lebanon. In 2012, Soleimani helped bolster the government of Bashar al-Assad, a key Iranian ally, during Iran's operations in the Syrian Civil War and helped to plan the Russian military intervention in Syria. Soleimani oversaw the Kurdish and Shia militia forces in Iraq, and assisted the Iraqi forces that advanced against ISIL in 2014–2015.

Soleimani was one of the first to support Kurdish forces, providing them with arms. He maintained a low profile during most of his career.

Soleimani was widely popular among Iranians, where his supporters viewed him as a "selfless hero fighting Iran's enemies."Solemaini was personally sanctioned by the United Nations and the European Union, and was designated as a terrorist by the United States.

Soleimani was killed in a targeted U.S. drone strike on 3 January 2020 in Baghdad, which was approved by President Donald Trump. A multi-city funeral was held in Iraq and Iran for the killed general and other casualties. Hours after Soleimani's burial on 7 January 2020, the Iranian military launched missiles against U.S. bases in Iraq; no American or Iraqi lives were lost in the attack.