Gen. Soleimani represented resistance to interventionism in Global South: Analyst

By Press TV Staff Writer

Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani came to be seen across much of the Global South not merely as an Iranian military commander, but as a powerful symbol of resistance to unilateral interventions, regime-change politics, and the selective application of international law, according to a Malaysian analyst.

Speaking to the Press TV website, Muhammad Azmi Abdul Hamid, president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations (MAPIM), highlighted the enduring significance of Martyr Soleimani's illustrious legacy for much of the Global South.

“Within the Global South, Soleimani’s legacy is often interpreted symbolically rather than institutionally. He came to represent resistance against unilateral interventionism, regime change politics, and selective application of international law. For societies shaped by colonial experience and post Cold War power asymmetries, this symbolism resonated strongly,” he said.

General Soleimani’s prominence, in this view, reflected “a broader Global South sentiment: frustration with a world order where military power is normalized for some actors while criminalized for others.”

That perception took shape most visibly during the fight against the Daesh terrorist group, also known as ISIL, whose rise followed the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and the destabilization that spread across West Asia after 2011.

By 2014, the dreaded Takfiri terrorist group controlled large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria. Its campaign of unbridled and indiscriminate violence included mass executions, enslavement, and the destruction of infrastructure, cultural heritage, and religious sites.

General Soleimani, then commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, emerged as a central coordinating figure in efforts to confront the group on the ground.

While international coalitions conducted widely advertised airstrikes, regional resistance forces—working alongside Iraqi and Syrian government troops—bore the brunt of land operations.

Abdul Hamid noted that this distinction matters in how the anti-terror commander is remembered outside the Western world.

General Soleimani’s legacy, Abdul Hamid said, reflects “the emergence of alternative security logics that rejected dependency on Western security architectures.”

The Iranian general himself marked the turning point in the war against Daesh in a letter dated November 21, 2017, addressed to Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. In the letter, he announced the fall of Daesh’s last stronghold in Abu Kamal, declaring that the “devastating storm” inflicted on the Muslim world had come to an end.

Iran later designated the day as National Hero Day, recognizing his role in ending one of the region’s darkest chapters.

The letter catalogued Daesh’s crimes in stark terms: beheadings, mass killings, sexual violence, and the systematic destruction of cities and vital infrastructure.

General Soleimani attributed the group’s rise to external designs aimed at igniting war within the Islamic world, a point echoed in Ayatollah Khamenei’s response, when he thanked General Soleimani for services rendered “not only to regional countries and the Islamic world but also to all of humanity.”

For Abdul Hamid, the younger generations of activists and policymakers in Asia should draw lessons from this period—but not the ones most commonly assumed.

“The most relevant lesson is not tactical militarism, but strategic clarity,” he said. He pointed to General Soleimani’s attention to local dynamics, alliances, and long-term planning.

“He recognized that terrorism cannot be confronted effectively without addressing power vacuums, social fragmentation, and external manipulation.”

In the Asian context, Abdul Hamid emphasized, counterterrorism must align security measures with political legitimacy and social trust. General Soleimani’s approach, in his view, demonstrated the importance of long-term strategy over reactive crisis management.

He also warned of limitations of “militarized resistance,” noting that “sustainable peace requires institutions, diplomacy, and inclusive governance.”

This balance between resistance and diplomacy also shapes how General Soleimani’s legacy is likely to continue. Abdul Hamid believes his influence will continue, but increasingly as “narrative and strategic memory rather than direct operational replication.”

“In West Asia, Soleimani has become a reference point within resistance discourses against US intervention and Israeli occupation,” he said.

“For Malaysia and much of Asia, the influence of his legacy is indirect. It reinforces the argument for strategic autonomy, rejection of double standards, and the need for a just global order that addresses terrorism without reproducing domination or occupation.”

From Kuala Lumpur’s perspective, he asserted, the assessment of General Soleimani was shaped less by personality politics and more by outcomes on the ground, adding that he was widely recognized by policymakers and analysts in Malaysia as a “key operational figure” in the fight against groups such as Daesh, particularly in Iraq and Syria.

“His role was understood as instrumental in preventing further territorial collapse, mass atrocities, and regional spillover that could have exacerbated global terrorism threats, including those affecting Southeast Asia,” he noted.

General Soleimani’s life was cut short on January 3, 2020, when a US drone strike near Baghdad assassinated him, some two years after his historic declaration.

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy chief of the PMU and an iconic Iraqi resistance commander, who played an equally important role in the decimation of the notorious terrorist group, was also assassinated along with General Soleimani.

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