'Trump aborted his plan': Arab media reacts to killing

Soleimani’s assassination took Arab newspapers by surprise, so the news hasn’t made it to any of their front pages today. But the topic has been heavily covered on their websites nonetheless.

Iraqi daily Baghdad Today has published several pieces on the killing, but one stands out: An open letter by the leader of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, asking his paramilitary group to prepare for a battle to end the US presence in Iraq and “putting an end to Israel”.

Joyful in its coverage tone, Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, meanwhile, ran a piece about Soleimani being groomed as the next Iranian president.

“He was a planned Iranian president and public preparation started last year - only Donal Trump aborted this project by killing him,” the paper wrote.

That image of Soleimani preparing for office was refuted by news presenter Ghassan Bin Jiddo on Lebanese-linked Al-Mayadeen TV, however.

Soleimani, Bin Jiddo said, was aware that Iranian generals, politicians and even officials in the office of Khameini, wanted him to run for presidency.

“But he said to them, ‘I was not made for this world, my wish that the Axis of Resistance liberates this region and my biggest wish is to be in the heart of al-Quds [Jerusalem] and liberate it, or to be martyrs, this is my biggest wish,” Bin Jiddo said.

Protesters shout slogans against the United States and Israel as they hold posters with the image of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani (AFP)

For Iran-leaning Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, Soleimani’s death was an opportunity to remind of the major role he played in Hezbollah’s 2006 war with Israel, alongside Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh.

It also listed his roles in supporting the “Iraqi resistance against the American and British occupation in Iraq”, building the “architecture of defence lines around Damascus”, and supporting Bashar al-Assad in battles such as that which took Aleppo. It also noted how he helped develop the capabilities of the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements in Gaza.

According to London-based pan-Arab paper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the assassination “changed the rules of the game and opened a public conflict with Iran”.

“What increased the dangerous feeling of this critical escalation and its results, is that the US administration rushed to announce its responsibility for the killing, as it is declaring war, or at least opening a wide confrontation with Iran,” the paper wrote.