The death of Soleimani is the most important recent development in the escalation of the US and Iran conflict – but Iran’s full reaction remains to be seen, writes Christopher Pyne.
Who is Qasem Soleimani and why is his death significant? For the past 15 years there has been a significant shift in the regional dynamics of the Middle East.
Most Australians would be unaware of this because the Western media that report on the Middle East generally see the conflict through the prism of Israel versus the rest. It is much more complicated than that and has been for a very long time.
The death of Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad last week along with the rest of his travelling party at the hands of a United States drone attack, shines a light on what has happened in the Middle East.
Qasem Soleimani was an Iranian General.
He was head of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp.
The Quds Force specialises in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. One of its priorities since its creation in 1980 is the expansion of Iranian influence across the region by training and radicalising proxy fighters to its cause.
Soleimani was one of the most powerful military figures in Iran. Some media outlets described him last week as the second most powerful figure in Iran.
Read the article by Christopher Pyne in The Advertiser.