“Qassem Soleimani, General of Hearts”

A year has passed since the early January morning that Iranians woke up to the breaking news on assassination of top counter-terrorism commander General Qassem Soleimani along with his nine companions including the deputy of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Committee.

The US drone attack targeting Iran's IRGC top commander of Quds Force began the New Year 2020 with fears of a war some even call it a third world war, emergency meetings of high ranking delegates regarding the attack and Iran’s response, international calls for Iran to practice restraint followed by massive cross-country burial of the martyrs in Iraq and Iran.
Iran vowed "hard revenge" against perpetrators and the senior commander has been frequently recalled on nearly every religious or national occasion.

Tehran targeted the US base in Iraq in response to the assassination of its top counter-terrorism figure and now, a year after the attack; it has announced some "inside US" may avenge assassination of General Soleimani and his companions.

Several experts said that beside all political motivations, the operation was conducted to distract attentions from an impending impeachment for not-much- favored President Donald Trump whose popularity rose to 45% after the assassination from 41% before the attack.

Trump, together with its supportive western media have endeavored to justify the assassination firstly by bringing the name of top commander and elite military advisor next to the names of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the infamous leader of the terrorist group ISIL.

The media have contributed to the whitewashing operation followed by the assassination in echoing the Pentagon that "the strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans" though none have ever provided the documents on the illusionary threat.

"Soleimani was responsible for clandestine overseas operations and was often seen on battlefields guiding Iraqi Shi’ite groups in the war against Islamic State" and "He (General Soleimani) was killed along with top Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Both men were seen as heroes in Iran’s fight against its enemies" ran two articles by Reuters following the assassination of counter-terrorism elites.

Horrifying videos of ISIL terrorists beheading or burning people alive, reports on mass killings, raping women and displacing citizens, training child soldiers, demolition of archeological sites emerged wile western countries were busy condemning the crimes, holding emergency meetings, expressing concern and the news would still release, "US conducts more ops to rescue Daesh terrorists" and "Syrian army finds Israeli-made weapons in ISIL deserted hideout."

The tactic of deploying specially trained operatives into hostile regions dates back to America's Colonial days when in September 1776 one of the first US reconnaissance missions was carried out. The country has perfectly continued and promoted its skills at it with the January 2020 assassination of Lieutenant General Soleimani.

While some experts condemned the attack against a top military official from a country in a third country as state-sponsored terrorism, the others have either endorsed or kept silent on the attack, a move which has heartened the enemies of Islamic Republic to provide more instances of their bullying strategies by assassinating top physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on November 27. And what was the EU's reaction regarding the attack? It called for "maximum restraint."

The drone attack in early January 2020 has brought much change for the people both in Iran and across the globe. Some People in Iran already knew the selfless and charismatic commander; however the assassination drew more people from all walks of life to his massive funeral tour across Iran. Trump could certainly not guess that assassinating the commander of IRGC Quds Force would expand his popularity and add to the diverse groups of people to supporters of the counter-terrorism figure. Now he has turned to "General of Hearts" for an entire nation and the younger generation promise to be another "General Soleimani." The US and its allies seem to be in need of more time to deeply understand that assassination of Iranian scientists and popular figures has in fact contributed to promotion and acceleration of their ways among the younger generation.

Once in Syria and Iraq battlefields, General Soleimani is now the commander of Iranians’ hearts.