Born in a poor village in eastern Iran, Soleimani left home when he was 13, to earn money to repay an agricultural loan his father had taken from the government of the Shah. He worked as a labourer, saving money in eight months before returning home. He only had a high school education, when aged 22, he joined the Revolutionary Guard after the overthrow of the Shah.

He grew up the ranks, learning on the job and became known for his bravery and smarts. He romanticised war, calling the battlefield a paradise. In 1998, he was named to head the Quds Force, the tip of Iran's military spear. Soleimani has since shaped the region with multiple moves against the US and Israel, in the process forming a network of Shia militia in the Arab world. He was respected and feared by counterparts in the shadowy world of intelligence. Ayatollah Khomeini hailed him as a 'living martyr of the revolution'.