Who was Qasem Soleimani?published at 18:35 BST
18:35 BST
Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian
Image source, ReutersAs we reported earlier, the US State Department says it has arrested the niece and grand-niece of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani after terminating their lawful resident status.
A loyalist of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Soleimani was seen as one of the most influential figures in recent Middle Eastern politics.
Soleimani became commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in 1998.
He was killed in an air strike near Baghdad airport, ordered by Donald Trump, in January 2020 during Trump’s first term as president.
Born in south-eastern Iran in 1957, he led Iran’s Sarallah 41st Division against Iraqi forces during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.
Soleimani was reportedly active in leading military operations in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
In March 2019, he was awarded the Order of Zolfaqar, Iran’s highest military honour, making him the first military official to receive it since the 1979 Revolution.
He was sanctioned by the US Treasury for his alleged role in the Syrian civil war.
















