For Iranians, Qassem Soleimani widely represented the most prominent figure outside its Shiite theocracy of national resilience in the face of four decades of U.S. pressure. For the U.S. and Israel, he was a shadowy figure in command of Iran's proxy forces, responsible for fighters in Syria backing President Bashar Assad and for the deaths of American troops in Iraq. He was 62 years old.
Al-Muhandis was the deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of mostly Shiite paramilitaries, and was the founder of the Kataeb Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades. The U.S. blamed the group, which is separate from the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, for a rocket attack in northern Iraq last week that killed a U.S. contractor. The militias mobilized in 2014 when the Islamic State group swept across northern and western Iraq.
President Donald Trump says Soleimani was "plotting to kill" many Americans. In his first comments, Trump says the general was also responsible for killing and wounding "thousands" of Americans and many more in the region. Trump adds that "he should have been taken out many years ago!"
The strike marked a major escalation in the conflict between Washington and Iran, and Iran vowed "harsh retaliation."
Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has welcomed the U.S. airstrike, saying President Donald Trump "deserves all the credit for acting swiftly, forcefully and decisively."
Israel has long viewed Iran as its greatest threat and has carried out airstrikes in recent years against Iran-backed forces in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.
Global powers are warning that the world has now become a more dangerous place. China, Russia and France, all permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, took a dim view of the airstrike, but Britain and Germany also suggested that Iran shared blame for provoking the targeted killing that dramatically ratcheted up tensions in the Mideast.
The price of oil has surged on the news of the strike. The international benchmark for crude oil jumped 4.5%, or $2.98, to $69.23 a barrel in London trading on Friday. Uncertainty gripped global investors as they tried to gauge what Tehran's response will be, with concerns about a disruption in global supplies of energy from the Middle East.
