Qassem Soleimani Quotes

Petraeus said he has “several thoughts” on Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani being in Iraq, but most of them “probably aren’t suitable for publication in a family newspaper like yours.” “What I will say is that he is very capable and resourceful individual, a worthy adversary,” he added. “He has played his hand well. But this is a long game, so let’s see how events transpire.

Iran asserts that Bahrain, though across the Gulf, is a “lost province”—a claim made both by the shah and subsequently by the Islamic Republic. In 1981, two years after Khomeini took power, Iran backed a failed coup. Another coup in Bahrain was averted in 1996. Despite the fact that Bahrain had been ruled by the Al Khalifa family since 1783, Iran renewed its claims to the kingdom starting in 2007. Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani declared that Bahrain was an “Iranian province separated from Iran as a result of colonialism.