Who was Qasem Suleimani and how did he expand Iran’s foreign influence?
On 3rd of January 2021, on the first funeral anniversary of Iranian Major General Qasem Suleimani an Iranian judge ordered his government to arrest US President Donald Trump and 47 other high officials responsible for the death of Qasem Suleimani. The Iranian government has now requested Interpol for help in the arrests. Although it appears just a symbolic gesture, this has again given rise to tensions between Iran and the US. In this article we will try to know who was Qasem Suleimani and how did he rise to become the second important person in Iran just behind the Supreme leader Ayatollah Khameinei? Throughout the article keep in mind that Iran is not only fighting against Israel and The US but also Saudi Arabia as its Shia ideology of Islam go against Saudi Arabia’s Wahabbi ideology.
Qasem Suleimani was born in a poor family in the Iranian province of Kerman in 1955. He joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guards in the Iran-Iraq war in 1980 and was declared to be among the ten best Generals after the war. But it was really in 1998 when he became the Head of Quds Force that he rose to prominence and expanded Iran’s influence on the foreign soil. Quds force is a faction of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards who are termed as an elite force within Iran but declared a terrorist organization by the US and UN. Quds force is specially designated to conduct the foreign activities of the Iranian government.
After Saddam Hussain’s invasion, Iran thoroughly realized that to protect her ideology, and keep herself safe from future invasions, one necessary element was to expand Iran’s influence beyond its boundaries. Iran got its first opportunity in 1982 when Israel invaded Lebanon. In Lebanon, several militias fought against Israel’s invasion who were ably supported by Iran not only strategically but financially as well. All these militias merged to form the Hezbollah in 1985 and eventually, Hezbollah succeeded in throwing out Israeli forces from Lebanon. This proved to be a loophole for Iranian interests in the Middle East. This was the first proxy formed by Iran and not only it threw the Israeli forces out but now it could fight the US and Israel without any conflict inside its own country. Iran could now attack Israel from the borders of Lebanon while also carrying out attacks on US envoys. Delighted by its success in Lebanon, little did Iran know that they have got a strategic genius as the new head of their Quds force who was to lead Iran’s proxy war against the US and Israel in the coming years and expand its influence beyond everybody’s imagination.
Qasem Suleimani got his first opportunity when the US dethroned Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussain. It created enough space in the power corridors of Iraq that Qasim Solemani unhesitatingly sent his forces to Iraq not only to participate in the war but also to spread Iran’s Shia ideology. Suleimani was successful in forming a government in Iraq according to Iran’s motives. Later on, we saw that Iraq turned into a country which completely relied upon Iran for its foreign policy. Even after the death of Suleimani, The Iraqi Parliament passed a resolution condemning the US drone strike strongly.
The next country that Iran got an opportunity was Syria. As in 2011, protests against Syrian President Bashar al Asad turned into a civil war, he turned for help to Qasem Suleimani. Suleimani organized his network of proxies, called his soldiers from Hezbollah in Lebanon, fighters from Iraqi militias, and servicemen from Iran to defend Basar ul Asad. Qasem Suleimani was again successful as Bashar al Asad remained in power even though Syria went into one of the worst humanitarian crises as about five hundred thousand people were killed and eleven million people who were displaced due to war.
Whatever was done by Qasem Suleimani was against The US until the rise of Islamic State also known as IS or Daesh. In fighting IS in Iraq, The US and Qasem Suleimani had a common enemy. This may be because The IS termed the people belonging to the Shia sect of Islam as infidels and Iran is a Shia dominated country. Moreover, by spreading its authority through Iraq, it was a threat to Iran not only ideologically but strategically too. Because this would eventually have led to Iran’s decreased influence in Iraq. Willy nilly, Iran was compelled to support America strategically. By now, Suleimani had unprecedented influence over The Middle East when another opportunity arose in the civil war in Yemen. Seeing this, Qasem Suleimani threw his support behind the rebel group called the Houthis. By now it was too easy for Iran to support the Houthi rebels as it had formed a wide array of proxies throughout the region. Iran’s support led the Houthis to prove its mettle on the battlefield as Yemeni forces weren’t able to defeat the Houthi Rebels despite receiving huge support from the Saudi government in the form of soldiers, millions of dollars, and tons of weapons.
What Suleimani did is extraordinary not only in terms of International Relations of Iran but also for Iran’s role and significance in the region as his built proxies throughout the Middle East not only counter Iran enemies but also are a way to spread Iran’s ideology. He has been termed a strategic genius even by some of his enemies too but all this has come at a cost. Most of his proxies have been termed as terrorist organizations by the US and UN and he was also sanctioned by the US and the European Union.
But whatever he may appear to the other people, he is still a hero to his people as also demonstrated by the huge protests that were held after his death last year not only in Iran but other countries too. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei also immediately declared him a martyr and himself led his funeral prayers which speak volume of the invaluable services that Qasem Suleimani provided Iran.
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