# Canonical recap data for U.S. Assassination of Qassem Soleimani (2020)
# Source: https://recap.at/2020/soleimani-assassination
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: soleimani-assassination
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/2020/soleimani-assassination"
title: U.S. Assassination of Qassem Soleimani
aliases:
- Soleimani assassination
- Baghdad airstrike
- Operation Martyr Soleimani
subtitle: A U.S. drone strike killed Iran's most powerful military commander in Baghdad, pushing the Middle East toward direct confrontation between superpowers.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 2020-01-03
datePrecision: day
year: 2020
decade: 2020
country:
name: Iran
slug: iran
summaryShort: 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.
summaryLong: 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.
lede: 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.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Assassination_of_Qasem_Soleimani_%E2%80%93_burning_car.jpg/1280px-Assassination_of_Qasem_Soleimani_%E2%80%93_burning_car.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Assassination of Qasem Soleimani"
importance: 72
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Date
  value: January 3, 2020
- label: Location
  value: Near Baghdad International Airport, Iraq
- label: Target
  value: Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran's Quds Force
- label: Ordering authority
  value: President Donald Trump
- label: Method
  value: MQ-9 Reaper drone strike
- label: Deaths
  value: Soleimani plus 9 others in the convoy
- label: Iranian retaliation
  value: 13 ballistic missiles fired at U.S. bases in Iraq on January 8, 2020
- label: Congressional notification
  value: None prior to strike; notified after
timeline:
- date: 2019-12-27
  title: KH Air Base attack
  description: Rocket fire kills U.S. contractor and wounds American soldiers at Kirkuk airbase in Iraq, attributed to Iraqi militia groups backed by Iran.
- date: 2019-12-29
  title: U.S. retaliatory airstrikes
  description: U.S. military conducts strikes on five Iraqi militia sites linked to Iran's Quds Force, killing at least 25 fighters.
- date: 2020-01-03
  title: Soleimani assassination
  description: 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.
- date: 2020-01-03
  title: Trump justification
  description: President Trump states operation targeted Soleimani to prevent imminent attacks on U.S. personnel and embassy.
- date: 2020-01-05
  title: Iraqi parliament vote
  description: Iraq's parliament votes 323-0 to request removal of U.S. military forces from the country.
- date: 2020-01-08
  title: Iranian retaliation
  description: "Iran launches Operation Martyr Soleimani: 13 ballistic missiles strike al-Asad and Erbil airbases in Iraq housing U.S. troops; no American deaths reported."
- date: 2020-01-09
  title: De-escalation signals
  description: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei declares missile strikes sufficient response; Trump states no further military action planned.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Qasem_Soleimani"
  title: Assassination of Qasem Soleimani
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: "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."
categories:
- war
taxonomy:
domain: political
eventTypes:
- assassination
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- governance
impactRadius: global
velocity: sudden
predictability: black_swan
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: conflict
metaDescription: Trump authorized the January 2020 drone strike that killed Iran's top general Qassem Soleimani near Baghdad, escalating Middle East tensions.
wikidataQid: Q80754846
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The New York Times
  publisherSlug: the-new-york-times
  headline: U.S. Drone Strike Kills Qassem Soleimani, Iran's Military Mastermind
  publishedAt: 2020-01-03
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: 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.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: BBC News
  publisherSlug: bbc-news
  headline: "Qassem Soleimani: Iranian general killed in Baghdad air strike"
  publishedAt: 2020-01-03
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: 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.
  significance: 89
  type: tv
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Reuters
  publisherSlug: reuters
  headline: U.S. kills Iran's most powerful military commander Soleimani in Baghdad strike
  publishedAt: 2020-01-03
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: 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.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: International
- publisher: Al Jazeera
  publisherSlug: al-jazeera
  headline: "Qassem Soleimani: US kills Iran's top military commander"
  publishedAt: 2020-01-03
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: 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.
  significance: 88
  type: tv
  region: Middle East
- publisher: The Guardian
  publisherSlug: the-guardian
  headline: "Qassem Soleimani: the Iranian commander who shaped the regional order"
  publishedAt: 2020-01-03
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: 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.
  significance: 87
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
