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US kills the powerful general iranian Soleimani in an attack with drones in the airport of Baghdad Qasem Soleimani, the general who was leading the projection of Iran in the region of Iran, shocked by the death of Soleimani, is planning his revenge
While Iran promises to take revenge for the murder of general Qasem Soleimani in the attack with drones perpetrated by the united States in the Baghdad airport early this morning, the country’s supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei can count on the support of groups that are part of a partnership led by Tehran in the middle East.
In recent years, groups backed by Iran, have fought in Lebanon, Yemen and Gaza against allies of the united States, among them Saudi Arabia and Israel. While in Iraq, the united States accused recently to fighters supported by Iran directly attacking u.s. personnel. The range of partnerships is in large part, the work of Soleimani, architect of the growing military influence of Tehran in the Middle East.
Iraq
shi’a groups backed by Iran, gained strength in Iraq after the U.s.-led invasion in 2003 and today they have tens of thousands of combatants. Under the supervision of Soleimani, played a key role against the Islamic State, fighting as part of the Forces of Popular Mobilization (Hashd al-Shaabi).
The stronger groups, trained, equipped, and financed by Tehran, are ‘ asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, the Badr organization, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, and Kataeb Hezbollah, which has been an important element in the last episode of tension. Its founder, Jamal Jaafar Ibrahimi, known as Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, has died also in the attack against Soleimani this morning.
on the other hand, some of the groups of iraqis backed by Iran, have fought in Syria in support of president Bashar al-Assad, another ally of Tehran.
The iraqi Government has attempted to integrate the paramilitary organizations in their Armed Forces, but the united States has said that it has not seen enough action from Baghdad to stop the attacks against u.s. forces by groups backed by Iran.
Lebanon
Hezbollah (party of God) was created with the help of the iranian Revolutionary Guards in 1982 and now has tens of thousands of combatants. In recent years, its role has expanded beyond the borders of Lebanon to participate in the conflicts in Iraq and Syria.
Established with the aim of fighting against the israeli forces that had invaded Lebanon, Hezbollah has continued to be a declared enemy of Israel, which he sees as the greatest threat in its borders.
In these years, the united States has blamed Hezbollah for the suicide bombing that destroyed the headquarters of the u.s. Marines in Beirut in October 1983 killing 241 people. Washington, which considers it a terrorist group, we also attributed a suicide attack the same year at the Embassy of the united States. The group has subsequently been attacked as part of a campaign to exert pressure on Iran with new sanctions to members and employers accused of supporting them.
Hezbollah, which trained paramilitary groups in Syria and Iraq and inspired other forces, such as the Huthi —allies of Iran in Yemen— has increased its political influence in Lebanon. The group and its allies won a majority in the parliamentary elections of 2018 and their role in the Government has grown.
Yemen
The movement Huthi, aligned with Iran and defended as part of its “axis of resistance regional”, has been fighting against a military alliance led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen for almost five years. Despite the fact that Riyadh and its allies accuse Iran of arming and training the Huthi, it is not clear the extent of the relationship and Tehran denies having sent weapons to Yemen. For their part, Huthi, who use ballistic missiles against Saudi Arabia, they deny that they are material, iranian, and they say they manufacture their own weapons.
The Huthi, who have with 180,000 and 200,000 fighters under its control, according to a report from Chatham House, claimed responsibility for an attack that cut off temporarily for more than half of the production of saudi oil in September. The united states pointed out that Iran was behind the attack.
Palestine: Hamas and the Islamic Jihad
The islamist group, palestinian Hamas, which governs Gaza, has a powerful armed wing thanks to the financial support and iranian military. Observers believe that the group has around 30,000 fighters and thousands of rockets.
In a speech of November, the head of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, attributed to Iran, the enhancement of their arsenal. However, analysts consider that the smaller Islamic Jihad is more committed to the official agenda of Iran and Hamas, though it has fewer fighters and arsenal.
