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Fresh Perspectives: International Affairs

The Assassination of Qassem Soleimani

3/1/2020

2 Comments

 
​​1. As leader of the feared Quds force, Soleimani, was arguably the second most powerful man in Iran, after its Supreme Leader. He was responsible for the expansion of Iran's military muscle and influence throughout the Middle East. His elimination deals a huge blow to Iran.

2. And yet Iran is a wounded animal, devastated by economic sanctions and damaged by angry protests both in Iran itself and in Lebanon and Iraq. It is this which makes Iran so dangerous; there are countless ways in which the Iranians can wreak mayhem throughout the region. Of course, the counter argument is that the short-term turmoil is a price worth paying in the long-term.

3. The US president has publicly taken responsibility for the assassination of Qassem Soleimani. A shambolic administration shooting from the hip. How does this tally with Trump's plan to withdraw the US from the region? On the contrary, this will suck the US into the quagmire.

4. Will the assassination of Soleimani deter Iran as the United States and its allies hope? I fear not. The danger is that a weakened Iran will see that the blow to its prestige demands a significant escalation.

5. It is likely that Iran will also target Israel as part of its response against the US and its allies. The threat from Iran has been Netanyahu's obsession from day one, and this is the moment he has been waiting for. The Iran threat will be exploited by Netanyahu as a means to divert attention from his legal predicament and as a rallying cry for the creation of a national unity coalition government. Israel's opposition leader Benny Gantz is in an unenviable position.  He runs the risk of looking unstatemanlike if he refuses to  join such a government. However, a national unity coalition government would be a trap for Israel's opposition, and a means for Netanyahu to keep himself in power. 

6. The Trump administration has a major headache with a wounded Iran that is liable to strike out. But there is another dangerous challenge on the horizon: a nuclear North Korea which is primed for confrontation with the United States. How will Trump cope with both of these challenges? Welcome to 2020!
2 Comments
Rampisad Mukerjee link
5/1/2020 23:02:09

I think you overlooked perhaps the most relevant negative point that will flow from this event. Over the past 4-5 months, Iran has been wracked with protests (with a death toll some sources put at over 600), all venting their anger not at the US, but at the Iranian mullahs. This whole movement will now be wiped off the streets both because of their sense of a national betrayal and even more so for fear of being treated even more harshly now.

So the single most positive development inside Iran is now finished. Soleimani can be replaced - remember the saying that some people are irreplaceable, but no one is indispensable, but the protests WERE indispensable and we are going to see a huge step backwards because of this .

Reply
Azriel Bermant
6/1/2020 13:22:39

Absolutely. That's a very good and important point. At the same time, though, Soleimani won't be replaced that easily.

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    Dr Azriel Bermant

    Foreign Policy and International Security Analyst, Historian, Lecturer, Author 

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