Thousands of Iraqis rushed to the streets of Baghdad on Thursday to celebrate a U.S. military strike that resulted in the death of Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a video on his verified government Twitter account late on Thursday night, writing, “Iraqis — Iraqis — dancing in the street for freedom; thankful that General Soleimani is no more.”
Iraqis — Iraqis — dancing in the street for freedom; thankful that General Soleimani is no more. pic.twitter.com/huFcae3ap4
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 3, 2020
“Iraqis who have demonstrated for months against a government they see as beholden to Iran broke into song and dance Friday after a US strike killed a top Iranian commander,” the AFP reported.
The AFP added that those who were celebrating chanted, “Oh Qasem Soleimani, this is a divine victory.”
“This is God’s revenge for the blood of those killed,” others said.
The New York Times reported that Soleimani and top Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, who headed the Iranian-linked Popular Mobilization Forces, were killed when an American MQ-9 Reaper drone fired missiles into their convoy as the left Baghdad International Airport.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Soleimani had increased his threats against Israel before he was killed:
Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani increased Iran’s efforts to strike at Israel in the last year. In August, he oversaw the movement of “killer drones” near the Golan Heights, including a thwarted attempt to use them.
When he was killed by a US strike on Friday he was at the height of his power.
Israel says that he funded, coached and trained Shi’ite operatives who were supposed to carry out the drone attack on August 22. An airstrike killed two Hezbollah operatives who were working with the drones on August 24. Soleimani oversaw the dispatch of Quds Force members to Syria to train the group involved in the drones and Iran sent experts to Syria to oversee the operation.
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In January 2018 the U.S. reportedly gave Israel a “green light” to kill Soleimani according to the Kuwaiti paper Al-Jarida. According to Al-Jarida Israel had sought to assassinate Soleimani three years before in 2014-2015 but the U.S. “warned the Iranian leadership of the plan.” A similar report by Marzieh Kouhi-Essfahani in a book on Iranian policy claimed in 2014 that the Obama administration pressured Israel not to target Soleimani.
The Pentagon released the following statement about the operation, writing, “At the direction of the president, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.”
“General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more,” the statement continued. “He had orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months – including the attack on December 27th – culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel. General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that took place this week.”
The statement concluded, “This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world.”