Death of Soleimani is a mixed blessing for Tehran
From an operational point of view, the January 2 US drone attack was a great success. In addition to Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, the United States killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis—a half-Iraqi and half-Iranian close associate to Soleimani and his personal friend. al-Muhandis was also a commander of Al-Hashd al Shaabi—a conglomerate of various Shia, pro-Iranian militias, present both in Iraq and Syria. A third victim was Niam Ghasem—a deputy commander of Hezbollah. Obviously target number one was Soleimani—a commander of the infamous Al-Quds, a clandestine organization responsible for Iranian activities in the region. Soleimani was, just like the whole Middle East, very ambiguous—on one hand he was responsible for the deaths of numerous US soldiers and an architect of anti-American Iran-led “axis of resistance.” On the other hand he was a person who helped destroy the Islamic State. On one hand he was beloved by many in Iraq, Iran, and Syria, while on the other he helped crush popular unrests in those countries.