How Soleimani coaxed Putin to send troops to Syria

In a stunning interview conducted by the Beirut-based al Mayadeen network, Hezbollah’s secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah outlines how Major General Qassem Soleimani – who was assassinated in an American drone strike at Baghdad airport a little over a year ago – had been instrumental in convincing Russia to help Syria militarily in its war against Salafi-jihadis.  

Nasrallah sets the stage for the crucial visit by Soleimani to Moscow in 2015 when he had a two-hour face-to-face meeting with President Vladimir Putin. In that meeting, Soleimani presented a [comprehensive] strategic report to [Putin] on the situation in Syria and the region [and explained] the proposed idea and the expected results.