How Gen. Soleimani fought terrorism and exposed the fallacy of West’s ‘war on terror’

By Dina Y. Sulaeman

This week marks the sixth anniversary of the martyrdom of General Qassem Soleimani, a pivotal figure in the contemporary West Asia (Middle East) and a steadfast defender of the region’s security and sovereignty.

More than a celebrated military commander, General Soleimani was a brilliant strategist, instrumental in curbing the spread of chaos, particularly in countering the rise of Takfiri extremist and terrorist groups.

His assassination was not merely the loss of a key anti-terror figure but also exposed a striking paradox at the heart of the Western narrative on the so-called “war on terror.”

For Iran and its allies, involvement in Syria was never a project of territorial or ideological expansion, but a strategic effort to prevent regional disintegration fueled by the rise of Takfiri terrorist groups.

These extremist militia groups operated with the support of — and in the interests of — the United States and the Israeli regime.

General Soleimani consistently emphasized that Syria represented the “front line of resistance” against forces capable of undermining regional peace and stability.

In his view, the fall of Syria would not only devastate the Arab country itself but also open the door to far-reaching chaos across West Asia. It was within this context that General Soleimani helped build what is today known as the Axis of Resistance — a political, military, and social network linking Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine.

The objective was never the expansion of Iranian political or ideological influence, but the establishment of a defensive line against terrorist groups exploiting sectarian divisions to widen their reach, acting on behalf of external powers who thrive on regional destabilization.

A look into the life of Martyr Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and his role as a chief strategist of a multi-national front against global arrogance.

Follow: https://t.co/LWoNSpkJSh pic.twitter.com/C8LhRh7pxO

— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) January 2, 2026

Through this approach, he aimed to contain the spread of terrorism and extremism that could cross borders and undermine the broader movement to defend Palestine.

The assassination of the top anti-terror commander in January 2020 marked a decisive turning point. Following his death, the dynamics of the region shifted dramatically. In the ensuing years, groups operating under the banners of Daesh and al-Qaeda were bolstered to serve the interests of Western powers and the Israeli regime.

By the end of 2024, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) — long designated as a terrorist organization — managed to seize power and overthrow Bashar al-Assad’s government, aided by certain regional and international actors who had long plotted Assad’s fall.

Ironically, HTS, once considered a global threat, is now treated as a legitimate political partner by the United States and many European countries. It has been welcomed in international forums, hosted by major nations, and gradually legitimized as a “rational” and “collaborable” political actor.

This “normalization of terrorism” illustrates how fluid the standards for defining terrorism have become. Labels once applied with certainty can now be revoked at a moment’s notice, depending entirely on the shifting geopolitical interests of Western powers.

Syria, once a cornerstone of the resistance against the illegitimate Israeli regime, has now become one of the West’s vassal states, either unwilling or unable to act against Israel’s illegal occupation of the Golan Heights and southern regions of Syria, including the strategically vital Mount Hermon.