Iran's Major General Qassem Soleimani, and the deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, along with other military leaders, were killed Friday in a U.S. air strike at Baghdad's international airport. The Pentagon has said that U.S. President Trump ordered the assassination. It claims the killing was to deter plans for unspecified Iranian attacks on American targets. Iran has vowed harsh retaliation for Soleimani's death. How will Soleimani's death affect Iran's regional influence? And will it accelerate Iraq's Parliamentary passage of U.S. troops' withdrawal? Asia Today invited Middle East Analyst Meir Javedanfar to give his opinion.