US drone strike kills Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad

A U.S. drone strike near Baghdad International Airport kills Qasem Soleimani, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force. Soleimani, long designated a terrorist by the United States but a revered military figure in Iran, is one of Iran's most powerful commanders, directing regional proxy forces across Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. The Trump administration justifies the strike as a defensive measure to prevent imminent attacks on U.S. personnel. The killing dramatically escalates U.S.-Iran tensions, destroys any remaining diplomatic channel, and triggers Iranian promises of harsh retaliation. The strike shifts the regional calculus decisively toward military confrontation.