The U.S. killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani: of wrong trees and red herrings, and why the killing may be lawful after all
Published: 23 January 2020 Authors: Stefan Talmon and Miriam Heipertz
On 3 January 2020, at about 1am local time, the United States launched a drone strike, killing Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani and nine members of his entourage near Baghdad International Airport. General Soleimani was the commander of the Quds Force, a military unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran responsible for its foreign operations, supporting non-State actors in neighboring countries, including Shia militias in Iraq. The United States considered Soleimani as the mastermind behind numerous attacks by Iranian proxies against American troops in the Middle East.