GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th January, 2020) Iran will provide a discreet response to the killing of Iran's top military commander Qasem Soleimani by the United States, Pepe Escobar, an independent geopolitical analyst, told Sputnik on Friday, adding that the response will be "a blowback by thousand cuts."
Soleimani, the commander of the elite Quds Force of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed by US airstrikes in Baghdad early on Friday. The attack left 11 other people killed, including Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a senior member of Iraq's Shia Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). Notably, the strikes were authorized by US President Donald Trump.
"Tehran will be extremely careful in their response. A hint of harrowing things to come � it will be blowback by a thousand cuts," Escobar said.
The expert called the assassination of Soleimani a "unilateral, unprovoked and illegal" act of war, adding that Iran's response to the move would be very painful.
GEOPOLITICAL, DOMESTIC REASONS BEHIND SOLEIMANI'S KILLING
Escobar continued by citing his Southwest Asia intelligence sources who said that Israel had provided the United States with coordinates that were used in the operation that left Soleimani killed. Israel itself wanted to avoid repercussions of taking the assassination upon itself, Escobar added.
The expert suggested that attacking Iran was one of the "geopolitical obsessions" that united Trump and the so-called Deep State that opposed the president.
"And there cannot be a more startling provocation against Iran � in a long list of sanctions and provocations � than what just happened in Baghdad. Iraq is now the preferred battleground of a proxy war against Iran that may now metastasize into a hot war, with devastating consequences," Escobar argued.
The analyst noted that the expert community had foreseen Washington's move to escalate tensions with Tehran.
"We knew it was coming. There were plenty of rumbles in Israeli media by former Defense and Mossad officials. There were explicit threats by the Pentagon ... I received worried messages from Iran. The inevitable escalation by Washington was being discussed until late Thursday night here in Palermo, actually a few hours before the strike," Escobar noted.
The expert suggested that both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced problems at home � Trump was in the center of an impeachment inquiry, while Netanyahu had been indicted for corruption � so nothing like an alleged external threat could help them improve their popularity.
Escobar noted that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei was aware of these factors that influenced the foreign policy of the United States and one of its closest ally in the Middle East. That is why Khamenei vowed a "forceful revenge" in the wake of the killing of Soleimani, according to the analyst.
US INFLUENCE IN middle EAST TO DECREASE
Escobar said he met al-Muhandis and other PMF members about two years ago. In the expert's point of view, the organization has the potential for becoming "a new Hezbollah." Moreover, it is supported by Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani.
"So the American strike also targets Sistani � not to mention the fact that [the PMF] operates under guidelines issued by the Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. That's a major strategic blunder that can only be pulled off by amateurs," Escobar argued.
The expert called Soleimani "a super-hero of almost mythical status for legions of young Hezbollah supporters, Houthis in Yemen, all strands of resistance fighters" across the world.
"Major General Soleimani, of course, humiliated the whole of the Deep State over and over again - and could eat all of them for breakfast, lunch and dinner as a military strategist. It was Soleimani who defeated ISIS/Daesh [terror group banned in Russia] in Iraq - not the Americans bombing [Syria's] Raqqa to rubble," Escobar explained.
Escobar suggested that it would be a problem for the United States to maintain troops in Iraq after the assassination of Soleimani.
This may be "the final nail in the coffin" in the US' imperialistic policies in the region, the expert said.
"[Iranian Foreign] Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif came out with an appropriate metaphor; the "tree of resistance" will continue to grow. The empire might as well say goodbye to Southwest Asia," Escobar insisted.
While the United States' closest European allies � France and the United Kingdom � emphasized the need for de-escalation and stability in the Middle East, Washington said the killing of Soleimani prevented an imminent attack against the United States.
