US President Donald Trump tweeted out an American flag, as news poured in that the US has killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Qasem Soleimani in an air attack in Baghdad.

The move put the two countries on the brink of war, as General Soleimani was seen as the second most powerful person in Iran. His killing comes after several tit for tat attacks, including the brief storming of the US Embassy in Baghdad last week by Iranian backed groups which prompted fears of a repeat of the Benghazi 2012 incident. Eventually the US sent in reinforcements and the protesters backed off, but it turned out to be just a stepping stone to the kill order against Soleimani. Fears of Iranian retaliatory strikes are spreading, and the US Embassy in Iraq called on American citizens to leave the country. Possible targets could include US military bases in the region, or the strategically important oil shipments in the Persian Gulf.

Soleimani was the architect of the assertive Iranian policy in the region which includes supporting Bashar al Assad in the bloody Syrian civil war, the Shia forces in equally bloody civil war in Yemen and the slow take-over of Iraq. This pitted Iran against a coalition of Sunni countries led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and also Israel, but also gained it the partnership of Russia or Turkey, depending on the regional issue. Earlier in his term Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal Barack Obama and the EU reached with the Iranians, but at times he would also open the door for renewed negotiations.