--- title: "U.S. Assassination of Qassem Soleimani" year: 2020 country: "Iran" canonical: "https://recap.at/2020/soleimani-assassination" slug: "soleimani-assassination" recapType: "global_event" startDate: "2020-01-03" --- # U.S. Assassination of Qassem Soleimani > A U.S. drone strike killed Iran's most powerful military commander in Baghdad, pushing the Middle East toward direct confrontation between superpowers. On January 3, 2020, the U.S. conducted a drone strike near Baghdad International Airport that killed Qassem Soleimani, Iran's most powerful military commander and architect of its regional influence. President Donald Trump authorized the strike without advance congressional notification. The killing dramatically escalated tensions between the U.S. and Iran, pushing both nations to the brink of direct military confrontation. ## Summary On 3 January 2020, Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian major general, was assassinated by an American drone strike ordered by U.S. president Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq, while travelling to meet Iraqi prime minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi. ## Key facts - **Date**: January 3, 2020 - **Location**: Near Baghdad International Airport, Iraq - **Target**: Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran's Quds Force - **Ordering authority**: President Donald Trump - **Method**: MQ-9 Reaper drone strike - **Deaths**: Soleimani plus 9 others in the convoy - **Iranian retaliation**: 13 ballistic missiles fired at U.S. bases in Iraq on January 8, 2020 - **Congressional notification**: None prior to strike; notified after ## Timeline - **2019-12-27** - KH Air Base attack Rocket fire kills U.S. contractor and wounds American soldiers at Kirkuk airbase in Iraq, attributed to Iraqi militia groups backed by Iran. - **2019-12-29** - U.S. retaliatory airstrikes U.S. military conducts strikes on five Iraqi militia sites linked to Iran's Quds Force, killing at least 25 fighters. - **2020-01-03** - Soleimani assassination MQ-9 Reaper drone fires on convoy near Baghdad International Airport, killing Qassem Soleimani and nine others including Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. - **2020-01-03** - Trump justification President Trump states operation targeted Soleimani to prevent imminent attacks on U.S. personnel and embassy. - **2020-01-05** - Iraqi parliament vote Iraq's parliament votes 323-0 to request removal of U.S. military forces from the country. - **2020-01-08** - Iranian retaliation Iran launches Operation Martyr Soleimani: 13 ballistic missiles strike al-Asad and Erbil airbases in Iraq housing U.S. troops; no American deaths reported. - **2020-01-09** - De-escalation signals Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei declares missile strikes sufficient response; Trump states no further military action planned. ## Media coverage - **The New York Times** (2020-01-03): [U.S. Drone Strike Kills Qassem Soleimani, Iran's Military Mastermind](Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable) > The United States killed Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps' elite Quds Force and one of the most influential military commanders in the Middle East, in a drone strike near Baghdad International Airport on Friday. - **BBC News** (2020-01-03): [Qassem Soleimani: Iranian general killed in Baghdad air strike](Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable) > Iran's powerful military commander Qassem Soleimani has been killed in an air strike in Baghdad, the U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said he was killed in a "treacherous" attack by the United States. - **Reuters** (2020-01-03): [U.S. kills Iran's most powerful military commander Soleimani in Baghdad strike](Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable) > The United States killed Qassem Soleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, in a strike at Baghdad's international airport on Friday, marking a major escalation in tensions between Washington and Tehran. - **Al Jazeera** (2020-01-03): [Qassem Soleimani: US kills Iran's top military commander](Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable) > Synthesized from period reporting - The U.S. military carried out a drone strike that killed General Qassem Soleimani near Baghdad International Airport. The killing of Iran's most senior military figure risks escalating regional tensions. - **The Guardian** (2020-01-03): [Qassem Soleimani: the Iranian commander who shaped the regional order](Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable) > General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike near Baghdad airport, was arguably the second most powerful figure in Iran and a dominant force in shaping Middle Eastern geopolitics over two decades. ## Impact Soleimani's death removed the operational mastermind behind Iran's proxy networks across Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, fundamentally altering the balance of power in the Middle East. The strike triggered immediate regional blowback: Iran launched retaliatory missile attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq within days, and Iraq's parliament voted to expel American forces. The killing set a precedent for targeted elimination of state military officials and deepened U.S.-Iran hostility for years to come. ## Sources - [Assassination of Qasem Soleimani](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Qasem_Soleimani) - Wikipedia --- Canonical: https://recap.at/2020/soleimani-assassination