PHOTO: Claimed image of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani (left) in southern Syria earlier this month
For a man labelled as “shadowy” and “mysterious” by the Western press, Iran’s military leader Qassem Soleimani has grabbed a lot of headlines and photo opportunities in the past year.
Soleimani, the head of the elite Qods Forces of the Revolutionary Guards, has been prominent in the counter-offensive in Iraq against the Islamic State. He has been pictured with political leaders, clerics, and Shia militias allied with the Iraqi Government in the fight against the jihadists. Tehran has exalted him as the saviour of Baghdad and as the leader of successful campaigns in eastern Iraq and west of the capital.
Soleimani was in Beirut after fighting in northern Lebanon between the military and militants. This month, Iranian social media has put the General on a new platform — a widely-circulated picture has been spread to prove that Soleimani was directing a Syrian regime counter-offensive south of Damascus.
The surge in the commander’s not-so-shadowy image has been so great that it has provided a rare moment of reconciliation between Iran’s hardliners and their dedicated opponents in the US: both agree that Soleimani is a mastermind for Iran’s regional ambitions.
But how to bring this fame to life for the newcomer to Iranian and Middle Eastern politics? How can you capture the essence of a military shooting super-star?
Iraqi Shia admirers have taken on the challenge with a music video: “We see the victory in his eyes/All the enemy’s soldiers together can’t destroy him.”
Everybody shouts: Can the wind be contained?
Even bullets and missiles obey him and respect him.
(h/t Iran Wire)
