US strike against top Iranian commander threatens spiral of violence in Middle East

The killing of Qasem Soleimani, one of the most powerful men in Iran, is a huge escalation of an already dangerous situation in the Middle East, threatening to trigger violence from the Gulf to the shores of the Mediterranean | Analysis by TimListerCNN

The Pentagon announced the US had carried out the attack near Baghdad airport, describing it as"decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad."In a statement late Thursday, the Pentagon asserted that"General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region." It said Soleimani"had orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months.

Soleimani was also the chief Iranian official in providing support for the Assad regime in Syria, for which he was sanctioned by the US Treasury. Along with Russian airpower, his leadership of Shia militia from Iraq, Iran and Lebanon helped turn the tide of the war in Syria as Assad's army weakened in 2015-16. And Soleimani was an important Iranian interlocutor with the powerful Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

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