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==External links==
==External links==
*Martin Chulov, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/28/qassem-suleimani-iran-iraq-influence Qassem Suleimani: the Iranian general 'secretly running' Iraq], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 28 July 2011
*Martin Chulov, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/28/qassem-suleimani-iran-iraq-influence Qassem Suleimani: the Iranian general 'secretly running' Iraq], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 28 July 2011

[http://www.vsquds.com/en/content/qassem-suleimani Qasem Soleimani Exposed]


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Revision as of 07:02, 15 September 2013

Qasem Soleimani
Commander of the Quds Force
Incumbent
Assumed office
1997 or 1998
Supreme LeaderAli Khamenei
Preceded byAhmad Vahidi
CommanderYahya Rahim Safavi
Mohammad Ali Jafari
Personal details
Born (1957-03-11) 11 March 1957 (age 67)
Kerman, Iran
Nickname(s)Haj Qasem , Sardar Soleimani
Military service
Allegiance Iran
Branch/serviceArmy of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution
Years of service1980-present
RankMajor General
CommandsQuds Force
Battles/warsIran–Iraq War
Syrian Civil War

Qasem Soleimani (Persian: قاسم سلیمانی, born 11 March 1957) is the commander of the Qods Force, a division of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which conducts special operations outside Iran. He is listed by the United States as a terrorist, which forbids U.S. citizens from doing business with him.[1][2] The list, published in the EU's Official Journal on 24 June 2011, also includes a Syrian property firm, an investment fund and two other enterprises accused of funding Assad's government. The list also includes Mohammad Ali Jafari and Hossein Taeb.[3]

Early life and education

Soleimani was born 11 March 1957 in the village Rabor in the province of Kerman, and his father was a peasant.[4] He finished compulsory primary education and worked as construction worker in Kerman.[4] Then he became a contractor for the Kerman Water organization.[4]

Career and activities

On 22 September 1980, when Saddam Hussein invaded Iran, Soleimani was a lieutenant in the ranks of the IRGC. During the war, from 1980 to 1988, he was stationed at the south front, commanding the Forty-First Tharallah Division.[5] After the war, during the 1990s, he was an IRGC commander in Kerman.[5] Through this region along the borders of Afghanistan ran drug trafficking to Turkey and onto Europe. But Soleimani's military experience helped him develop a successful strategy against drug trafficking.

In 1999, after the suppression of student unrest in Tehran, Soleiman, was one of 24 IRGC officers who wrote a letter to then President Mohammad Khatami expressing their concern that the suppression of free speech had involved the army.[6]

The exact date of his appointment as commander of the IRGC Special Forces - the Quds Force ("Jerusalem Brigade") is not clear, but Ali Alfoneh cites it as between 10 September 1997 and 21 March 1998.[4] He was considered one of the possible successors to the post of commander of the IRGC, when General Yahya Rahim Safavi left this post in 2007. In 2008, he led a group of Iranian investigators looking into the death of Imad Mughniyah. Suleimani helped arrange a ceasefire between the Iraqi Army and Mahdi Army in March 2008.[2]

In 2009, a leaked report stated that General Soleimani met Christopher R. Hill and General Raymond T. Odierno (America’s two most senior officials in Baghdad at the time) in the office of Iraq’s president, Jalal Talabani (who has known General Soleimani for decades). Hill and General Odierno denied the occurrence of the meeting.[7]

On 24 January 2011, Soleimani was promoted to major general by Ali Khamenei.[5][8]

In February 2013, Riad Hijab, former Syrian premier who defected in August 2012, claimed that Soleimani was involving in the Syrian civil war in favor of the Assad regime.[9] Soleimani has also been involving in the crisis in Iraq.[9]

Soleimani has been called a "brilliant tactician" by Geneive Abdo.[10]

Sanctions

In March 2007, Soleimani was included on a list of Iranian individuals targeted with sanctions in United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747.[11] On 18 May 2011, he was sanctioned again by the United States along with Syrian president Bashar Assad and other senior Syrian officials due to his alleged involvement in providing material support to the Syrian regime.[12]

On 24 June 2011, the Official Journal of the European Union said the three Iranian Revolutionary Guard members now subject to sanctions had been "providing equipment and support to help the Syrian regime suppress protests in Syria".[13] The Iranians added to the EU sanctions list were two Revolutionary Guard commanders, Soleimani, Mohammad Ali Jafari, and the Guard's deputy commander for intelligence, Hossein Taeb.[14] Soleimani was also sanctioned by the Swiss government in September 2011 due to the same grounds cited by the European Union.[15]

References

  1. ^ "Designation of Iranian Entities and Individuals for Proliferation Activities and Support for Terrorism". United States Department of State. 25 October 2007. Archived from the original on 12 March 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2008.
  2. ^ a b "Iranian who brokered Iraqi peace is on U.S. terrorist watch list". McClatchy Newspapers. 31 March 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2008.
  3. ^ "EU expands sanctions against Syria". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d Alfoneh, Ali (January 2011). "Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani: A Biography" (PDF). Middle Eastern Outlooks. 1. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  5. ^ a b c Alfoneh, Ali (March 2011). "Iran's Secret Network: Major General Qassem Suleimani's Inner Circle" (PDF). Middle Eastern Outlooks. 2. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  6. ^ "News & Views". The Iranian. July 1999. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  7. ^ Iraq and its neighbours: A regional cockpit The Economist
  8. ^ "The Islamic Republic's 13 generals". Iran Briefing. 3 February 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  9. ^ a b Abbas, Mushreq (12 March 2013). "Iran's Man in Iraq and Syria". Al Monitor. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  10. ^ Abdo, Geneive. "What an attack on Syria will mean for US-Iran relations". 10 September 2013. Al Jazeera. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  11. ^ "United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747" (PDF). United Nations. 24 March 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2008.
  12. ^ Alfoneh, Ali (July 2011). "Iran's Most Dangerous General" (PDF). Middle Eastern Outlooks. 4. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  13. ^ COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) No 611/2011 of 23 June 2011
  14. ^ "Syria: Deadly protests erupt against Bashar al-Assad". BBC News. 24 June 2011.
  15. ^ "Ordinance instituting measures against Syria" (PDF). Federal Department of Economy. Retrieved 24 February 2013.

Qasem Soleimani Exposed

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