The madness of the American War machine has triggered another major crisis in the Middle East which might lead to another full-scale war in the region. Commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani and several leaders of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces have been killed in the missile strikes near the Baghdad International Airport on Thursday night.
Iran has named Esmail Qaani the new chief of Iran’s elite Quds force. Qaani was formerly the deputy commander.
Pentagon has confirmed that Trump directed the assassination of Iran’s second most powerful leader to deter future Iranian attacks. Trump who is also facing impeachment later tweeted the American Flag, possibly to invoke the patriotic fervor. Israel and Saudi Arabia are on high alert following the attack.
Qasem Soleimani also known as Sardar Soleimani had been the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for the last 23 years. He is well known in the region as the main person who was responsible for the defeat of ISIS in both Iraq and Syria. This high profile assassination comes at a time when escalations are soaring between the United States and Iran. America has been accusing Iran of backing attacks on it in Iraqi soil though no proof has been presented so far. An American air raid on an Iraqi militia last weekend killed more than 20 people. This triggered a heated protests at the US embassy complex in Baghdad with protesters where demonstrators smashed windows, lit fires and chanted “Death to America” slogans. Americans blamed Iran for the uprisings and accused IRGC of fomenting hatred against America in the region. Most of the Iraqi lives were destroyed by the war on terror that America started in 2003 with false evidence that Iraq’s Saddam Hussain has “Weapons of mass destruction”.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has stated that the death of the Quds commander will only double the motivation for resistance against the United States and Israel.
“Undoubtedly, the great Iranian nation and other freedom-loving countries in the region will avenge the United States for its terrible crime”, Iran’s president Rouhani stated. Iran’s foreign minister Javed Zarif has stated “The US’ act of international terrorism, targeting & assassinating General Soleimani. The most effective force fighting Daesh (ISIS), Al Nusrah, Al Qaeda is extremely dangerous & a foolish escalation. Iraqi Prime minister Abdul Mahdi has stated Assassination of Soleimani is an act of Aggression and breach of Iraq’s sovereignty that will lead to war in Iraq, region and the world. Popular Iraqi Shia Leader al-Sadr has ordered his followers to Prepare to Defend Iraq.
The assassination comes at a time when both American President Trump and Israel’s Prime minister Netanyahu and facing trouble on home ground.
Trump was impeached on 18th December on grounds of abuse of power and obstruction of justice. Similarly, Netanyahu after facing defeat in the elections a couple of months ago is now facing arrest in corruption charges. It works for both of them to use trouble in the Middle East as a distraction from their own failures on the domestic front, and Iran serves as a perfect enemy.
When it comes to the Middle East, It’s basically the same script!!
Trump who accused Obama of trying to start a new war against Iran for his 2nd term, now himself is doing the same. Clinton who was impeached in 1998 also ordered similar airstrikes on Iraq. And Trump now is also facing impending trial in the Senate ahead of November’s presidential elections clearly knows the impact of military conflict to shield himself from trouble.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has offered condolences and officially condemned the US strike on Iraq’s Baghdad that killed Major General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Qods Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units.
“We consider the killing of Soleimani as a result of an American missile strike in the vicinity of Baghdad as an adventurous step that will lead to increased tensions throughout the region. Soleimani devotedly served the cause of protecting Iran’s national interests,” the Foreign Ministry said, according to Russia’s RIA Novosti.
The impact of this conflict has already sent the Indian rupee to slide near to one month low at 71.61 per dollar on Friday morning. The expense of Oil imports is expected to rise severely as India imports 84% of its oil and India under US pressure stopped buying Iranian oil from May 2019. With rising inflation, sliding economy Prime Minister Narendra Modi is staring at economic disaster with only NPR, NCR and CAA to divert attention from the public. He has already started invoking Pakistan sentiments heavily in his speeches and the army chief himself giving statements against threats from Pakistan points to the direction of conflict the country is heading towards.
[…] Also Read: Qasem Soleimani Assassination – A prelude to a new war in the Middle East […]