Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, killed last week by a U.S. drone in Baghdad, has been credited with persuading Russian President Vladimir Putin to intervene militarily in Syria in 2015, a claim the Kremlin denies. Regardless of the truth of that particular story, though, the inevitable escalation following Soleimani’s death has the potential to change Putin’s calculus in the region.
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Leonid Bershidsky: Putin now needs a Plan B on Iran
Iranian mourners gather for the burial of slain top general Qasem Soleimani in his hometown Kerman on Jan. 7, 2020.
