The United States killed IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani three years ago to try to "break" the Axis of Resistance – the loose anti-US, anti-Israeli, anti-Saudi alliance between Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, and Palestine, but failed, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has suggested.
"Hajj Qassem was able, through his brainpower, planning, constant presence, and sincerity, to link the forces of the Axis of Resistance, strengthen them and provide them with material and intellectual support through meetings and direct presence on the front lines," Nasrallah said in a televised address late Tuesday.
Soleimani's killing alongside Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces deputy chairman Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were meant to "break the resistance, terrorize the Iraqis, and weaken the parties of the Axis of Resistance," according to the Hezbollah chairman. But the project "failed to achieve its goals and to subjugate Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen," instead launching "new elements of power in our region."
Nasrallah praised the late Iranian commander for foiling multiple "American schemes" in the Middle East, including by assisting Hezbollah during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon War, in which Israel received a bloody nose, and commanding forces against the Daesh* terrorists which arose in Syria and Iraq in the mid-2010s, preventing Washington from coming out looking like the "savior" of regional countries.
Tens of thousands of Iranians rallied in Tehran and other major Iranian cities on Tuesday to commemorate the third anniversary of Soleimani's death. Speaking at one of the gatherings, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned "the Americans" to "know that we will not pass over the blood of Martyr Soleimani," and that Iran "will not let the assassins and perpetrators have a restful sleep." Raisi praised the late commander as a symbol in the fight against terrorism and "global arrogance" (hinting at the US and Israel).
Iran has issued court summons for some 73 people suspected of involvement in Soleimani’s murder, including former president Donald Trump, and has also sought to take its case to The Hague.
Trump has boasted about his role in the assassination even after leaving office, characterizing Soleimani as a "bad dude" and likening him to the late al-Qaeda* leader Osama bin Laden, whose militants Soleimani's forces fought in Syria. Privately, the former president reportedly expressed fears that Iran might try to get him at his Florida estate.
The Islamic Republic launched a barrage of missile strikes on two US bases in Iraq after Soleimani’s death in January 2020, leaving more than 100 US troops with traumatic brain injuries and hastening the eventual partial drawdown of US forces in the country. However, Tehran has so far refused to respond to the killing with assassinations of its own, citing the lack of US commanders or politicians valuable enough.
The missile strikes brought the US and Iran to the brink of war, with Joint Chiefs commander Mark Milley reportedly warning Trump that he would "have a f***ing war" on his hands if the US responded with strikes on targets in Iran.
* Daesh (also known as IS, Islamic State, and ISIS) and al-Qaeda are terrorist groups outlawed in Russia and many other countries.