The United States killed Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force and spearhead of Iran’s spreading military influence in the Middle East, on Friday in an air strike at Baghdad airport, the Pentagon and Iran said.
STRIKE AIMED AT DEFERRING FUTURE IRANIAN ATTACK PLANS
Top Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an adviser to Soleimani, was also killed in the attack, a militia spokesman said.
Iran’s top Iranian general killed in US airstrike WATCH
“At the direction of the President, the US military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad by killing Qassem Soleimani,” the Pentagon said in a statement. “This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans,” it added.
IRAN COMFIRMED HIS DEATH
US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that Soleimani had been killed in a drone strike.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed in a statement that Soleimani was killed. “Honored supreme commander of Islam, Haj Qassim Soleimani, was martyred this morning after a life of struggle in an attack by American helicopters,” the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement read on state TV.