Lse Middle East Centre Podcasts

This event will explore the fallout of the recent murders of Qasim Soleimani, Commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the senior commander of al-Hashd al-Shaabi and the founder of Kata'ib Hezbollah. The assassination, on 2 January 2020, of Qasim Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis has thrown Iraqi and wider regional politics into turmoil. Soleimani was one of the most senior figures controlling Iranian foreign policy. Al-Muhandis, as the senior military commander in al-Hashd al-Shaabi, wielded as much if not more influence in Iraq than any other government figure. The speakers will discuss the likely regional and Iraqi fallout from their murders, how Soleimani’s death will influence Iranian power projection across the region, what retaliatory moves Iran is likely to undertake, the ramifications for Iraqi politics and security and how the ongoing protest movement will be affected. Toby Dodge is Kuwait Professor and Director of the Kuwait Programme