BAGHDAD — Iran's Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani has stirred a great deal of controversy in Iraq, where people have started arguing over whether his role is a positive or a negative one. Some Iraqi youths have created social media campaigns in support of Soleimani using the hashtags #WeAreAllSoleimani and #SoleimaniIsOneOfUsIraqis, while others denounce him with #SoleimaniUnderMyFeet.
These campaigns emerged after April 30, when followers of the Sadrist movement shouted slogans against Soleimani and his country in Grand Festivities Square, located in the heavily fortified Green Zone. On the same day, Iraqi activists shared via YouTube an Al Jazeera broadcast about the raising of Iranian flags in Baghdad's predominantly Sunni area of Adhamiya. "Armed Shiite groups known as the Hezbollah Brigades raised the Iranian flag in Adhamiya," Al Jazeera reported.