“Students” belonging to a paramilitary wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, published a letter this weekend lamenting that Iran had not issued a “proportionate” response to the elimination of top terrorist Qasem Soleimani two years ago.
The IRGC is an official wing of the Iranian military. Soleimani, a major general, was the head of the Quds Force, a wing of the IRGC dedicated to international terrorism. American officials had significant evidence indicating that Soleimani was the mastermind of using roadside bombs in Iraq to target American soldiers, killing hundreds and potentially injuring thousands, and was largely in charge of Iran’s foreign policy. In a private conversation leaked last year, former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif complained that Soleimani regularly intervened in his work.
A U.S. drone strike in Baghdad, Iraq, ordered by then-President Donald Trump took Soleimani out on January 3, 2020. Also targeted in the strike was Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the head of the Iraqi terrorist militia the Hezbollah Brigades (Kata’ib Hezbollah), who Soleimani was in town to meet. The Hezbollah Brigades are part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), Iran-backed militias that operate in Iraq and were legalized as a wing of the Iraqi armed forces during the fight against the Islamic State, despite their terrorist nature.
The Kurdish outlet Rudaw reported on Monday that the Basij, a wing of the IRGC made up of so-called “students,” published a letter on Soleimani’s death anniversary demanding that the Iranian Supreme National Security Council explain why it had yet to issue a “proportionate” response to America, presumably the execution of an American general or admiral.
“Two years has passed since the martyrdom of the great commander of IRGC … and sadly a proportionate response has not been given to this hostile crime,” the letter, addressed to Supreme National Security Council head Ali Shamkhani, read, according to Rudaw. “A question being asked again and again by our people is that in retaliation to this inhuman, evil, thuggish crime, why no proportionate response has been given.”
“On the second anniversary … we call on you as the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council to attend the Basiji students gathering and explain at what stage the ‘severe revenge’ dossier is, who is executing it, and why people are not informed about the details?'” the letter requested.
Iraqi youths watch an event celebrating the inauguration of a street named after the late Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in the southern city of Basra on January 8, 2021, more than a year after a U.S. drone strike killed Iran’s Qasem Soleimani and his Iraqi lieutenant Muhandis (image) near the capital. (HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP via Getty)
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei honored Soleimani with remarks on Saturday during a meeting with Soleimani’s family, claiming President Joe Biden’s extension and abrupt withdrawal from Afghanistan as a victory for Iran.
“The enemies thought that with the martyrdom of Soleimani, Abu Mahdi and his other companions, the work would be over,” Khamenei, said, according to Iran’s Fars News Agency, “but today, thanks to that dear blood wrongly spilled, the United States has fled Afghanistan.”
“Today, Soleimani is a symbol of hope, self-confidence, courage and the secret of endurance and victory in our region, and as some have rightly said, Martyr Soleimani is more dangerous to his enemies than Commander Soleimani,” Khamenei claimed.
Iran, especially Soleimani personally, played no significant part in the Afghan War. Iran, a Shiite Islamist theocracy, has maintained traditionally tense relations with the Taliban, now a Sunni Islamist theocracy, and the two engaged in a violent scuffle on the Iranian-Afghan border as recently as a month ago.
Khamenei declared Soleimani “the most popular figure in the Islamic world,” a questionable claim given the outbreak of celebrations in response to his assassination in 2020.
The Iranian government has failed to significantly retaliate in response to Soleimani’s removal from the battlefield; its most significant act in the aftermath of the drone strike was shooting down a Ukrainian International Airlines (UIA) commercial airliner, then lying about it. Iran has yet to pay the families of the civilians killed redress in any way.
In a letter to the United Nations Security Council published today, the Iranian regime attempted to sway the institution to attack the United States for “committing the terrorist act.” America is a permanent member of the Council. The letter also demanded punishment for Israel, which is not publicly believed to have had anything to do with the Soleimani strike.
In Iraq, the PMF held a large candlelight vigil for Soleimani and its member al-Muhandis this weekend, flooding Baghdad with images of the Iranian terrorist.
The occasion resembled, but was reportedly smaller than, the large funeral anniversary event held in January 2021, at the height of the spread of Chinese coronavirus in the country.
Reports also indicated on Monday that an attempted armed drone attack on Americans failed in Iraq. Two drones reportedly attempted to attack Baghdad’s international airport, targeting a facility currently home to some American forces. Authorities told the Associated Press that the weapons used appeared to be “suicide drones” and that they failed to cause any damage before being taken down.
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