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The life of Qassem Soleimani, Iran's revered military mastermind who fought the US for years until he was killed in an airstrike

The life of Qassem Soleimani, Iran's revered military mastermind who fought the US for years until he was killed in an airstrike

Soleimani was born on 11 March 1957. At the time, Iran was ruled by a monarchy headed by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

He was born in the village of Qanat-Malak in Rabor, Kerman, around 700 miles from the Iranian capital, Tehran. He was born into a humble family of farmers.

Source: Radio Farda

At age 13 he moved to the city of Kerman in order to work in construction to pay a debt his father owed.

Source: Radio Farda, Al Jazeera

In his free time, Soleimani attended sermons by Ali Khamenei, who went on to become Iran's second and current Supreme Leader. In the lead up to the Iranian revolution of 1979 he also worked to organise demonstrations in opposition to the Shah.

Source: Sky News, Foreign Policy

Following the Iranian revolution which ousted the Shah and established the Islamic Republic of Iran, Soleimani joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

The IRGC is a faction of the army which was set up in order to defend the country's Islamic system, and is considered the most elite of all regiments in Iran's armed forces.

Source: Sky News, BBC

Shortly after he was sent to the front lines in the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988). He emerged a distinguished figure in the Iranian armed forces after carrying out a series of reconnaissance missions in Iraq.

Source: Bloomberg, Al Jazeera , The Guardian

In 1998, Khamenei made Soleimani the head of the Quds Force, a unit within the IRGC which handles Iran's foreign military operations.

Source: Reuters

He kept a relatively low profile for a while, but in 2005 Soleimani became more prominent in Iraq's Shia political groups, the dominant strand of Islam in the country.

The Quds force was accused of supplying explosive devices to fighters in Iraq in 2007, which were used against American soldiers, according to Sky News.

Source: Sky News, Al Jazeera

In 2010, Soleimani reportedly sent a message to General David Petraeus, who was head of the US forces in Iraq at the time, saying the following: "You should know that I, Qassem Soleimani, control the policy for Iran with respect to Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza, and Afghanistan."

In 2011, as the Syrian civil war broke out Solaimani sent Iranian-backed militias into the country to support President Bashar Assad. Iran became a key ally of Syria through the war under Soleimani's leadership.

Source: Al Jazeera

He was reportedly involved in drawing up a strategy for Assad to help him with violent crackdowns on opposition groups in Syria, as well as training government allied militias in the country.

Source: BBC

However it was his prominent role in fighting ISIS in Iraq that led to his wider recognition, and won Soleimani widespread support inside Iran.

In 2015 he was the face of the successful offensive which took back the Iraqi city of Tikrit from ISIS control.

Source: BBC, Newsweek

His efforts in fighting the terrorist group were also recognized by western media.

Source: Massoumeh Ebtekar/Twitter

He was a household name, often appearing on television and generally popular among the public. In 2016 a poll showed that 76% of Iranians held a favorable view of him.

His popularity and renown in Iran would seem alien to most in the West, as he was much more prominent than any modern military leaders in major Western powers.

His fame was more akin to that of US World War II generals like George Patton, and 19th century British military leaders like the Duke of Wellington.

Source: Bloomberg

Shia militia fighters also made a music video about him in which soldiers are pictured painting a graffiti portrait of Soleimani's face on a wall whilst music in the background sings his praises.

The video is available to watch here.

As might be expected, he was not seen as favorably in the West. The Quds force was declared a terrorist organization in 2007, and Soleimani himself was sanctioned.