On January 3, 2020, a US airstrike on Baghdad International Airport killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and several others. Among the deceased was Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chairman of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and commander of one of its militias, the Kataib Hezbollah. The PMF is a group of Iraqi militias that are supported by Iran.
President Trump took to Twitter in the wake of the killing in an attempt to defend his actions and went on to state that he was “ready and prepared to take whatever action is necessary” if “Americans anywhere are threatened.” Simultaneously, demonstrators and politicians in Iran, Iraq, and elsewhere strongly condemned the attack and made their stance abundantly clear: Trump had overstepped a line and would not be evading the grave ramifications of his decision.
To many, this disaster may seem to have arisen entirely out of the blue. However, it was preceded by a chain of events that escalated tensions between the US and Iran. On December 27, 2019, several Americans were wounded and one was killed in an attack carried out by the Kataib Hezbollah at an Iraqi military base. Trump responded by going straight to his guns, ordering airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. A few days later, supporters of Kataib Hezbollah stormed the US Embassy in Baghdad. On New Year’s Eve, Trump tweeted that Iran would “be held fully responsible” for the assault. He directly threatened Iran in a later tweet, saying that they would “pay a very BIG PRICE.” He confirmed that the social media post was “not a warning,” but “a threat.” And he finished it all off with a rather chilling message: “Happy New Year!”
Several of Trump’s statements, made in the wake of the airstrike, were a cause of profound concern for many as he made clear his intent to “find and eliminate terrorists who harm or intend to harm any American.” People are now concerned that these events lead us down a slippery slope where killing people simply for their perceived intentions is acceptable.
All of this, unsurprisingly, has serious implications for the US. For one thing, our relationships with Iran and Iraq have become exceedingly strained. Many believe this crisis has placed us at the brink of full-blown war, and we most likely won’t be out of the woods any time in the near future. The actions of Trump have amassed a tremendous amount of harsh criticism in just a few days. Condemnations and promises of retaliation flooded in from the Iranian government. Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, called the airstrike an “extremely dangerous and foolish escalation.” Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has threatened “harsh retaliation” against the US. If anything was clear in the midst of this chaos, it was that America would not emerge from the conflict unscathed.
Since then, Qasem Soleimani has been continuously mourned in Iran and lauded as a selfless national hero by many. Massive protests and demonstrations have rocked both Iran and Iraq, further condemning the airstrike that killed him and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Grieving people have taken to the streets of Tehran and Baghdad.
Iran also carried out a ballistic missile attack on an Ayn al-Asad, an American military base in Iraq. No service members were killed, but it is safe to say that retaliatory action by Iran is far from over. Many have speculated that potential future action could manifest in the form of cyber-attacks. The consequences of this event are still unfolding around us, and we cannot fully predict the magnitude and manner of the repercussions.