Who was Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian General killed in US air strike?

General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US air strike in Baghdad on Friday, was head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force. Soleimani, who was born to a poor farming family in 1957, was sometimes discussed as future president. He helped armed groups defeat ISIS, and was instrumental in the spread of Iranian influence in Middle East.