![People walk near a photo of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani on the one year anniversary of his assassination by a US drone, in Tehran on January 1, 2021 [Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021-01-01T140444Z_1336008928_RC22ZK9L02Z3_RTRMADP_3_IRAN-USA-SOLEIMANI.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
The assassination of Qassem Soleimani was one of several major setbacks for Iran in 2020. Can it recover?
Soleimani assassination
With Trump’s presidency almost over, his legacy in the conservative media sphere starts to take shape.
![A woman holds a placard depicting Iraqi militia commander al-Muhandis as people gather to mark the one year anniversary of the killing [Khalid Al-Mousily/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021-01-03T113608Z_1945955783_RC2B0L9NQ8V4_RTRMADP_3_IRAQ-IRAN-SOLEIMANI.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
US President Trump ordered drone strike that killed Soleimani and al-Muhandis in Baghdad last January.
![Iraqis hold placards depicting Soleimani and al-Muhandis as they mark the first anniversary of their deaths in Baghdad [Khalid Al-Mousily/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021-01-03T114525Z_1845027164_RC2B0L99KCRZ_RTRMADP_3_IRAQ-IRAN-SOLEIMANI.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Thousands condemn ‘American occupiers’ a year after US drone strike killed top Iranian general and Iraqi commander.
![Iraqis gather to mark the first anniversary of the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis [Khalid Al-Mousily/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021-01-03T114306Z_1453676098_RC2B0L9S9DCB_RTRMADP_3_IRAQ-IRAN-SOLEIMANI.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Mourners hold mock funeral procession on highway leading to city’s airport where the January 3, 2020 strike took place.
![Iran says it wants to avoid conflict, but will defend its people and national security [Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021-01-01T095003Z_859501636_RC2XYK9JTZV8_RTRMADP_3_IRAN-USA-SOLEIMANI.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Iran says US show of force may raise tensions to ‘alarming level’ ahead of the anniversary of Qassem Soleimani killing.
![Iran signals stepping up legal efforts on accountability for slain general before his death anniversary [File: Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/5e963aecefe2417cb0f605afe311bb59_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Allegations come amid rising tensions as Iran’s FM accuses President Trump of aiming to fabricate ‘pretext for war’.
![US President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, US, December 23, 2020. [Tom Brenne/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020-12-23T214939Z_2079644415_RC29TK9YW4GB_RTRMADP_3_USA-TRUMP.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
US president says ‘will hold Iran responsible’ as top advisers meet to discuss options to deter further attacks.
![Khamenei: 'Those who ordered the murder of General Soleimani as well as those who carried this out should be punished' [Iranian supreme leader's website/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/000_8X92LA.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Iran’s supreme leader meets family of top general some two weeks before first anniversary of his US assassination.
![The drawdown will continue until after the anniversary of the killing of Soleimani that took place in January this year [File: Handout via AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/000_1NF5QJ-e1606997477521.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Media reports suggest drawdown to continue until after anniversary of the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
![Soleimani was in killed in a US drone strike in Iraq on January 3 [File: EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/61e12c26a0274693b02bc23d7d20fe3e_8.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Soleimani was killed when his convoy was hit by a US drone strike near Baghdad airport on January 3.
![The Iranian navy last week said it drove off a US aircraft that flew close to an area where military exercises were under way near the Strait of Hormuz [West Asia News Agency/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2abac184a9c14f72aac9e0b7623d0269_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Trump said any attack by Iran to avenge Soleimani’s killing will face a response ‘1,000 times greater in magnitude’.
![The two foreign ministers met in the Iraqi foreign ministry in Baghdad [Khalid al-Mousily/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/d1b71c4793d544a9aecee081c08f5234_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Ties between the neighbours have been turbulent since the US assassinated the Iranian commander in Iraqi in January.
![Iran has said the misalignment of an air defence unit's radar system was the key 'human error' that led to the plane's downing [File: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/61d3cc388f744a3691d6f73423cee53b_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Black boxes transported to Paris by aviation organisation officials and a judge, according to media report.