US shocks world by killing Soleimani; Does sovereignty matter?

The United States’ assassination of Iran’s top security official Qasem Soleimani does not seem to have evoked any condemnation from most of the world, as it is by now expected, or taken for granted, that Washington will have its way in any power struggle with a rival country. Even if that means bombing a sovereign nation or eliminating top officials of other countries.

US officials would have the world believe that Soleimani was a “ruthless killer” who was the mastermind behind Iran’s influential role in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, that went against the interests of the United States.

While it is true that Soleimani, as head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force was Iran’s key strategist in pushing its interests in the Middle-East (West Asia, for us Indians), to characterise him as some sort of terrorist-like figure is doing no justice to an official who acted in the interests of his country, which is the reason he was a decorated officer. And, according to reports, a possible future president of Iran.

Soleimani, in fact, helped Iraqi forces acting in tandem with the Kurdish Peshmerga in defeating Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Islamic State with support from the United States. So, as long as IS was the threat, the US had no hesitation in using the services of Soleimani’s forces. Once that job was done, he was expendable.

Also read: Donald Trump ordered killing of Iranian commander, says Pentagon; oil prices hit

But his assassination raises serious concerns over the manner in which the United States, now headed by Donald Trump, has shown no qualms in targeting anyone anywhere in any country – sovereignty be damned. For instance, the use of drones by the US has resulted in scores of deaths of innocent lives across the Middle-East, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Trump, who in May 2018 unilaterally abrogated a US-led international nuclear deal with Iran signed by his predecessor Barack Obama, has been largely responsible for increasing tensions in the Middle-East following this decision. European countries which were part of the deal have tamely followed the US after initially resisting Trump’s move. Since the deal was broken off, the US has imposed sanctions on Iran and has arm-twisted other countries, including India, to follow suit.

Despite this, Iran has not given in to US pressure which would have entailed giving up its nuclear programme and stopping its involvement in Syria and Iraq.

On the contrary, Iran has halted the US and its Western allies in their tracks by supporting Syria’s Bashar al-Assad in the nearly decade long civil war in his country. With Russia stepping in and the US-backed rebels in Syria in a disarray, al-Assad who was on the verge of being deposed in 2014 is now firmly entrenched in power.

Also read: Iran names Esmail Qaani new Quds chief after Soleimani’s death

Another frustration for the US has been Iran’s involvement with its neighbour Iraq. Try as Washington might, it has not been able to de-link Tehran from its activities in Iraq. The US is the world’s most powerful and belligerent nation at the moment, a country that its rivals fear, but that does not mean it is possible to overnight simplify the complex social, religious and political links between two ancient civilisations — Iran and Iraq — and their Shia connection.

The Shia in Iraq helped the US invade their country in 2003 as the community was persecuted by the then-president Saddam Hussein. Once Hussein was eliminated, the Shia expected the US to withdraw from Iraq. But, that did not happen and a sizeable section turned against US forces in Iraq.

This section of Shia led by Moqtada al-Sadr naturally aligned with their religious brethren in Iran and together they turned into a formidable resistance to US rule. In 2003, the George W Bush administration picked on Iran’s nuclear programme as a means of stalling its role in US-occupied Iraq. But, neither did Iran dilute its role in Iraq nor did the US let up its pressure on Iran’s nuclear programme, except for a brief period when the Obama-backed nuclear deal was in force.

At the time, there was a quid pro quo with Iranian backed forces in Iraq lying low and all attention was on how to tackle the rising Islamic State.

Also read: Soleimani’s death takes US-Iran relations into uncharted territory

The US, under Trump, expected Iran to crumble under sanctions but finds that has not happened. Instead, Tehran has continued to increase its hold over Iraq’s central government. The dispensation in Baghdad is reportedly close to Iran but other serious unrelated problems have cropped up in Iraq.

Since October 2019, Iraq has been gripped by a popular revolt against disintegrating infrastructure, unemployment and general fall in living standards to abysmal levels besides the Iranian influence on the central government led by Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. A leaderless movement, it has targeted the government, US forces and even the Iranian-backed paramilitaries.

In other words, the situation in Iraq has turned chaotic. It borders on anarchy.

Over 400 have died in the protests. On one hand, the US continues to support the government in Baghdad. The very same government is equally close to Iran. And, each is placing its own demand on the hapless government. Not just that, the US and Iran-backed forces in Iraq are directly in battle with each other for control of the government in Baghdad.

Also read: Iran warns US of harsh retaliation over Gen Soleimani’s killing

Amidst this, the popular uprising, which incidentally is leaderless, has been demanding that both the US and Iran stop interfering in Iraq. Simultaneously, there have been attacks on US forces in Iraq by Shia militia and retaliation by the US on Iran-backed paramilitaries resulting in deaths on both sides.

Washington alleges that Iran’s al-Quds is behind these attacks on their forces. Recently it attacked an Iranian base and killed several fighters. Trump known for his unpredictability has further complicated the situation by assassinating Solaimani. For a start, Iraq’s government has condemned the US assassination and called it a “breach of sovereignty”.

No purpose will be achieved by killing Solaimani as another official will take his place. Though credit is given to Solaimani for his successful strategies in the region, it is not as if there are no others who are as shrewd as him.

But the US, by assassinating Iran’s top official has obviously angered Tehran and there is no saying what its response will be. Almost from the time of Iran’s Islamic revolution in 1979, there has been no official relationship between the two. Trump by his over-reach has crossed a red line that the rest of the world will now have to contend with.