First Order of Zulfiqar Accorded to Gen. Soleimani
TEHRAN (Dispatches) – IRGC Qods Force chief General Qasem Soleimani has received Iran's most prestigious medal of honor, the Order of Zulfiqar, from Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
General Soleimani is the first Iranian commander to receive the Order of Zulfiqar after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Order of Zulfiqar was coined in 1921. Ten army commanders including General Fazlollah Zahedi, Iran's first prime minister after the 1953 coup, had received the medal in Iran under the Shah.
Soleimani was promoted to the rank of major general in 2010. There are only 13 major generals in the Iranian army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps altogether.
General Soleimani is the most well-known Iranian officer outside the country. Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif was the first Iranian official to congratulate General Soleimani for receiving the Order of Zulfiqar, calling him the man who made the Middle East safe.
Previously, General Soleimani had received the order of Fath (Victory) from Ayatollah Khamenei in 1989.
The top charismatic general leads the elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and is widely known as one of the most influential military commanders in the world.
The Washington-based magazine Foreign Policy recently put the name of General Soleimani on top of its 2019 list of Global Thinkers in the defense and security field, followed by German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen.
A short write-up on the senior Iranian commander described him as the "public face of Iran’s response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats.”
General Solemani "is arguably the most powerful and unconstrained actor in the Middle East today,” retired four-star United States Army General Stanley McChrystal said in a January article in Foreign Policy.
General Soleimani made headlines last July, when he delivered a blistering response to an all-caps tweet addressed to President Hassan Rouhani, in which Trump had issued a military threat against the Islamic Republic.
"Gambler Trump! I alone will stand against you. We, the Iranian nation, have gone through tough events. You may begin a war, but it is us who will end it. Go ask your predecessors (about it). So stop threatening … us. We are ready to stand against you,” General Soleimani said in the central city of Hamedan.
"We are near you, where you can't even imagine ... Come. We are ready,” he said. "As a soldier, it is my duty to respond to Trump’s threats. If he wants to use the language of threat, he should talk to me, not to the president (Hassan Rouhani).”
The IRGC commander is widely seen as a strategist and adviser in the counter-terrorism operations against Takfiri terrorists in Syria and Iraq.
The powerful general leads Iranian military advisers backing the national armies of Syria and Iraq in their fight against terrorism.
General Soleimani was present on the ground to supervise the decisive stages of Iran-backed operations against Daesh, which lost in late 2017 all the territories it had seized in Iraq and Syria.
In November 2017, he declared the end of Daesh’s territorial rule in a letter addressed to Ayatollah Khamenei who has described him as a "living martyr”.
General Soleimani is the first Iranian commander to receive the Order of Zulfiqar after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Order of Zulfiqar was coined in 1921. Ten army commanders including General Fazlollah Zahedi, Iran's first prime minister after the 1953 coup, had received the medal in Iran under the Shah.
Soleimani was promoted to the rank of major general in 2010. There are only 13 major generals in the Iranian army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps altogether.
General Soleimani is the most well-known Iranian officer outside the country. Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif was the first Iranian official to congratulate General Soleimani for receiving the Order of Zulfiqar, calling him the man who made the Middle East safe.
Previously, General Soleimani had received the order of Fath (Victory) from Ayatollah Khamenei in 1989.
The top charismatic general leads the elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and is widely known as one of the most influential military commanders in the world.
The Washington-based magazine Foreign Policy recently put the name of General Soleimani on top of its 2019 list of Global Thinkers in the defense and security field, followed by German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen.
A short write-up on the senior Iranian commander described him as the "public face of Iran’s response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats.”
General Solemani "is arguably the most powerful and unconstrained actor in the Middle East today,” retired four-star United States Army General Stanley McChrystal said in a January article in Foreign Policy.
General Soleimani made headlines last July, when he delivered a blistering response to an all-caps tweet addressed to President Hassan Rouhani, in which Trump had issued a military threat against the Islamic Republic.
"Gambler Trump! I alone will stand against you. We, the Iranian nation, have gone through tough events. You may begin a war, but it is us who will end it. Go ask your predecessors (about it). So stop threatening … us. We are ready to stand against you,” General Soleimani said in the central city of Hamedan.
"We are near you, where you can't even imagine ... Come. We are ready,” he said. "As a soldier, it is my duty to respond to Trump’s threats. If he wants to use the language of threat, he should talk to me, not to the president (Hassan Rouhani).”
The IRGC commander is widely seen as a strategist and adviser in the counter-terrorism operations against Takfiri terrorists in Syria and Iraq.
The powerful general leads Iranian military advisers backing the national armies of Syria and Iraq in their fight against terrorism.
General Soleimani was present on the ground to supervise the decisive stages of Iran-backed operations against Daesh, which lost in late 2017 all the territories it had seized in Iraq and Syria.
In November 2017, he declared the end of Daesh’s territorial rule in a letter addressed to Ayatollah Khamenei who has described him as a "living martyr”.