Qassem Suleimani

Sardar Sarlashkar Pasdar Qasem Soleimani
Native name	قاسم سلیمانی
Nickname(s)	"Haj Qassem" (among Shia) "The Shadow Commander" (in the West)
Born	(1957-03-11) 11 March 1957 (age 59) Qanat-e Malek, Kerman, Iran
Allegiance	Iran
Service/branch	Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution
Years of service	1979–present
Rank	Major General
Unit	Quds Force
Commands held	41st Tharallah Division of Kerman 7th Saheb-az-Zaman Corps of Kerman Quds Force
Battles/wars	See battles  Kurdish Rebellion (1979) Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988) Operation Tariq-ol-Qods (WIA) Operation Fath-ol-Mobin Operation Beit-ol-Moqaddas Operation Ramadan Operation Bazi-Deraz 2 Operation Omm-ol-Hasanayn Operation Before the Dawn Operation Dawn Operation Dawn 3 Operation Dawn 4 Operation Dawn 5 Operation Dawn 6 Battle of the Marshes Operation Kheibar Operation Badr Operation Meymak First Battle of al-Faw Operation Dawn 8 Operation Karbala 1 Operation Karbala 4 Operation Karbala 5 Operation Karbala 6 Operation Karbala 10 Operation Beit-ol-Moqaddas 7 Second Battle of al-Faw Operation Dawn 10 Operation Nasr 4 Operation Mersad KDPI insurgency (1989–96) South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000) Invasion of Afghanistan Iraq War Karbala provincial headquarters raid Iran–Israel proxy conflict Israel-Gaza conflict Syrian Civil War Al-Qusayr offensive (2013) Southern Syria offensive (2015) Battle of Zabadani (2015) Northwestern Syria offensive (2015) 2015–16 Latakia offensive Kuweires offensive (2015) Battle of Aleppo (2012–16) Southern Aleppo offensive (2015) Special forces operation to rescue Russian pilot East Aleppo offensive (2015–16) Northern Aleppo offensive (2016) Encirclement of Aleppo Aleppo offensive (September–October 2016) Iraqi Civil War (2014–present) Siege of Amirli Liberation of Jurf Al Sakhar Battle of Baiji Battle of Tikrit Siege of Fallujah Operation Breaking Terrorism
Awards	Fath Medal of Honor (3)

"Haj Qassem" (among Shia)

Kurdish Rebellion (1979)

Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988)

KDPI insurgency (1989–96)

South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000)

Invasion of Afghanistan

Iraq War

Iran–Israel proxy conflict

Syrian Civil War

2015–16 Latakia offensive

Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)

Major general Qasem Soleimani or Ghasem Soleimani (Persian: قاسم سلیمانی‎‎, born 11 March 1957 in Qanat-e Malek, Iran) is an Iranian senior military officer in the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (IRGC) and since 1998 commander of its Quds Force—a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations. A veteran of the Iran–Iraq war, he has been active in many conflicts in the rest of the Middle East, especially in Iraq and the Levant, while maintaining a low profile. His methods have been a blend of military intervention through ideological proxies and hard-nosed strategic diplomacy. The Quds Force has long provided military assistance to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories. Suleimani has always had political and military influence in Iraq through Shia and Kurdish political parties, who rebelled against Saddam in the 1991 uprising in Iraq. Iran had armed and equipped the rebels against Saddam. In 2012, Soleimani helped bolster the Syrian government, a key Iranian ally, during the Syrian Civil War. Soleimani also assisted in the command of combined Iraqi government and Shia militia forces that advanced against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in 2014–2015.