Haaretz: Who Is Qasem Soleimani, the military maestro of Iran’s force that attacked Israel

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, which was responsible for Wednesday night’s missile launches at Israel, is commanded by Qasem Soleimani, one of the most prominent and influential military figures in Iran today. He is involved in Iranian military activity in many countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan and the Caucasus states, and is considered one of the people closest to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

The 61-year-old father of five doesn’t give many interviews to the Iranian media; he leaves that to the politicians, for whom he doesn’t have much respect for. He isn’t a religious scholar and didn’t receive a religious education.