Gen. Qassem Suleimani, the leader of Iran’s powerful Quds Force, has been in Iraq for months now, helping to coordinate the anti-ISIS response of the Iraqi military, and by some accounts directing the defense of Baghdad itself
It hasn’t been anything like a secret, but the UN is just getting around to noticing it, and they’re suddenly riled up, claiming Gen. Suleimani is violating UN sanctions they put on him back in 2007.
The sanctions came when the US designated him a support of terrorism during the Iraq occupation, and included an asset freeze as well as an international travel ban.
The travel ban is supposed to make it impossible for Gen. Suleimani to enter any UN member country, which would include Iraq. In mid-war, however, Iraq clearly valued an allied general’s presence above abiding by the sanctions.
