With Iran moving closer to a deal with world powers to constrain its nuclear program in return for an end to sanctions, Arab analysts and leaders are focused more on how Tehran is working unfettered to tighten its grip on Arab states, from Iraq to Lebanon, and Syria to Yemen.
The man behind what some see as an attempt to create a new Persian and Shiite "empire" on Arab land is Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, commander of the al-Quds Brigade of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Since he emerged from the shadows last autumn, Soleimani seems to be omnipresent on the battlefields of the Middle East.
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