American Contractor Whose Death Led to Soleimani Strike Is Identified as Nawres Hamid From Sacramento

The American defense contractor whose death last month led to President Trump’s decision to assassinate top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani has been identified as 33-year-old Nawres Hamid. He was killed on Dec. 27 when, according to U.S. authorities, an Iranian-backed militia fired rockets at a military base in northern Iraq. That attack prompted Trump to order missile strikes against Iraqi militias, which led to a New Year’s Eve assault on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, and then the retaliatory strike by the United States against Soleimani last week. The Sacramento Bee reports Hamid was an interpreter who was born in Iraq and lived in Sacramento. His widow said he became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2017, and was the father of two boys, ages 2 and 8. A co-worker said Hamid worked as an Arabic interpreter for U.S. forces in Iraq. In a tweet on Dec. 31, Trump wrote of Hamid’s death: “Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will.”