Narges Bajoghli: Soleimani’s death changes nothing in Iran

(Maya Alleruzzo | AP) A supporter of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah wears the words "powerful revenge" on her hand, ahead of the leader's televised speech in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020 following the U.S. airstrike in Iraq that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The placard in her other hand depicts Soleimaini and Iraq's Popular Mobilization forces commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was also killed in the strike. Arabic on placard reads: "On the road to Jerusalem." The assassination of Maj. Gen. Qassim Soleimani of Iran by the United States was an unprecedented escalation in the 40-year standoff between the two countries. General Soleimani was the powerful head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ special operations forces, the Quds Force, and we can expect retaliation across the region. But the killing will not in itself weaken the Revolutionary Guards or Iran’s role in the region.

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