Qasem Soleimani

The US decision to assassinate Qassem Suleimani, the commander of the elite Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, on January 3rd has taken US-Iran tensions to a new level. At first glance, the US strike appears at odds with the reluctance of Donald Trump, the US president, to drag the US into a new war in the Middle East. However, from Mr Trump's perspective, it represents a calculated response to the recent escalation in tensions between the US and Iran, which culminated in an attack against the US embassy in Iraq by Iran-backed militia in late December. As the embassy attack illustrates, these tensions have mainly unfolded in Iraq, a country where both the US and Iran wield significant influence and which represents the new battlefield between both countries.