US-Iran

On Friday, January 3, the USA undertook a drone airstrike following a series of “orchestrated”

attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the past few months and attacks on the US Embassy in
Baghdad, all of which was done on the orders of General Soleimani.

US President Donald Trump approved of the assault on General Soleimani claiming the action was
undertaken to make “the world a safer place”.

In a statement, the Pentagon said: “At the direction of the President, the US military has taken
decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad by killing Qassem Soleimani.”

It added: “This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans.

“The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests
wherever they are around the world.”

Now Iran has sworn “harsh revenge” and promised to “turn day into night”.

This assassination has been dubbed by many high-ranking Iranians a “declaration of war”.

Donald Trump has warned the US could act “disproportionately” if Iran targets any American “person
or target” in revenge for the killing of Major General Qassem Soleimani.

Since that time, Iran "unintentionally" shot down a Ukranian passenger jet which saw 176 people
killed.

This week an Iranian prosecutor has issued an arrest warrant against Mr Trump and has asked for
Interpol's support, however, the policing authority has refused to back the arrest warrant.

Iran has a large military, a nuclear program, it is geographically crucial to the Middle East, it
borders the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world's most crucial choke points — and it is resource
rich.

Iran is the world's most dominant Shia Muslim power. Since seizing power in the 1979
revolution, Iran's clerical regime has withstood war, revolt and crippling economic sanctions.

A glance at history reminds us of the often fraught legacy of post-World War II American
military adventurism: beating a retreat from Vietnam; the bodies of American soldiers dragged
through Mogadishu's streets; fought to a standstill in Afghanistan (America's longest war); Libya
divided with the government teetering at the onslaught of the warlord Khalifa Haftar (backed by
Russia, among others).

One by one the dominoes have toppled in the Middle East since the Iraq war: the Arab spring,
fallen dictators, the war in Syria, the emergence of Islamic State, millions homeless, countless
dead, a flood of refugees.