Before the US airstrike in Iraq on Friday that killed Qassem Soleimani, Trump fought the Iranian Maj. Gen. in 2018 with memes inspired by "Game of Thrones."

After tensions escalated between Trump and Iran's president Hassan Rouhani in July 2018, Soleimani first posted an edited image from the movie "Olympus Has Fallen" to his Instagram that showed him standing in front of an exploding White House.

In November 2018, after Trump withdrew from the 3-year-old nuclear deal with Iran, the president tweeted a "Game of Thrones" meme of himself that said "Sanctions are coming" in the TV series' signature font.

The next day, Soleimani posted a similar "Game of Thrones" meme of himself on Instagram that said "I will stand against you."

In April 2019, Soleimani's Instagram account was suspended, after the US officially designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, or Quds Force, a foreign terrorist organization.

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News of a US airstrike in Iraq that killed a top Iranian general has spawned thousands of memes about an impending World War III. Before President Donald Trump's administration carried out the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the Maj. Gen. fought back against Trump in 2018 with memes of his own.

The Washington Post reports that Soleimani posted his first cinematic meme in July 2018, after Trump clashed with Iran's president Hassan Rouhani. Escalating tensions between the two countries led Rouhani to say "America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all war."

Trump then issued one of his most notable tweets, writing in all caps "NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE."

Later in July, after defending Rouhani, Soleimani posted a meme on his Instagram account of an edited shot from the 2013 movie "Olympus Has Fallen." It showed Soleimani, who led the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (also known as the Quds Force), in front of an exploding White House.

Then in November 2018, after Trump withdrew from the 3-year-old nuclear deal with Iran, the president tweeted a mock-up of himself as a "Game of Thrones" poster with "Sanctions are coming" written in the TV series' signature font, a play on the tagline "Winter is coming."

Soleimani responded on his Instagram account a day later with his own "Game of Thrones" inspired meme that said "I will stand against you."

—Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) November 3, 2018

The Post reports that Soleimani had around 70,000 Instagram followers, although the Iranian regime bans most major social media platforms for its citizens.

The general, who served as a shadow commander for proxy conflicts across the Middle East, was suspended from Instagram in April 2019 after the US officially designated the Quds Force a foreign terrorist organization.