US airstrike: Who was Iranian General Qasem Soleimani

Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed Friday in a US strike, was one of the most popular figures in Iran and seen as a deadly adversary by America and its allies.

An airstrike killed General Qasem Soleimani, at Baghdad's international airport Friday, Iranian state television and three Iraqi officials said. Later Pentagon released a statement saying the airstrike was at the order of US president Donald Trump.

Following Soleimani's death, Trump tweeted an image of the US flag without any further explanation.

General Soleimani, who headed the external operations Quds Force for the Guards, had wielded his regional clout publicly since 2018 when it was revealed that he had direct involvement in top-level talks over the formation of Iraq's government.

It was no surprise at the time for a man who has been at the centre of power-broking in the region for two decades. Soleimani has been in and out of Baghdad ever since, most recently last month as parties sought to form a new government.

Where once he kept to the shadows, Soleimani has in recent years become an unlikely celebrity in Iran - replete with a huge following on Instagram. His profile rose suddenly when he was pushed forward as the public face of Iran's intervention in the Syrian conflict from 2013, appearing in battlefield photos, documentaries - and even being featured in a music video and animated film.

"To Middle Eastern Shiites, he is James Bond, Erwin Rommel and Lady Gaga rolled into one," wrote former CIA analyst Kenneth Pollack in a profile for Time's 100 most influential people in 2017.

A survey published in 2018 by IranPoll and the University of Maryland - one of the few considered reliable by analysts - found Soleimani had a popularity rating of 83 percent, beating President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, powerful military commander of Iranian Revolutionary Guard, was seen by the Americans as a deadly adversary. Soleimani was killed in a US airstrike that drew a furious response from Tehran. Soleimani, left, grew so close to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei (right, seen with Soleimani), that the latter officiated at his daughter's wedding.