1. There were many tributes to Soleimani by Iranians who viewed him as a widely-beloved Persian Che Guevara, w/ little self-awareness for his role in the repression, displacement, and death of millions. I hope some will read this piece by @KimGhattas
2. Soleimani’s killing has undoubtedly united Iran’s political elites, and elicited anger and sympathy from millions of Iranians. But even the oft-repeated claim that Iranians of all stripes are now united with the regime deserves greater scrutiny
3. For starters, most Iranian Kurds-who make up 10% of the population-are not mourning Soleimani, given (like many IRGC commanders) he began his career in the early years of the revolution violently suppressing them. This is a Pulitzer Prize winning photo of what it looked like 
4. To some Iranians Soleimani was a war hero, to others he embodied the coercive machine that has brutally suppressed popular desire for reform. Just last month Iran shut off the Internet for 7 days in order to kill an alleged 1500 protestors in the dark reuters.com/article/us-ira…
5. Arabs watching Soleimani's funeral felt the same way Iranians would watching millions of Arabs grieving Saddam Hussein, who caused 500K Iranian casualties. Soleimani's legacy in Syria-including Assad’s repeat use of poison gas-was deadlier than Saddam’s
6. We rightly condemn Trump’s unconscionable threat to destroy Iranian cultural sites. Soleimani didn’t just threaten this, he teamed with Assad and Russia to destroy much of Syria’s cultural heritage
7. While many Iranians regularly invoke the MI6/CIA-led coup against Prime Minister Mossadegh that happened in 1953, few have any idea about the role Soleimani played in the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Harriri newyorker.com/magazine/2013/…
8. The candle light vigils and paeans for Soleimani by Iranians residing in the West was reminiscent of Iraqi sociologist Ali al-Warde's observation that “If Arabs had to choose between two states, secular and religious, they would vote for religious and flee to secular”
9. My contrarian view is that the impact of Soleimani’s killing on Iranian public opinion will be fleeting. Months from now people will see the regime has no intention to curb its repression/corruption, and the frustrations of daily life will soon eclipse whatever they feel today
10. NYT reporter Elaine Sciolino wrote how she initially won praise in the early days of the revolution by telling people she was on the plane with Ayatollah Khomeini when he returned from exile in 1979, but public opinion soon soured. "So it was your fault," a man said to her.
