Tehran has foiled a plot by Israeli and Arab intelligence agencies to assassinate General Qasim Soleimani, commander of the Qods Force in Iran's Revolutionary Guards, a senior Iranian official said Thursday.
State media quoted Hussein Tayeb, head of the Revolutionary Guards security service, as telling a conference that the "conspirators" planned to buy a property adjacent to Suleimani's father's grave and plant explosives to kill him.
The three had dug a tunnel under Suleimani's father and booby-trapped it with "between 350 and 500 kilograms of explosive material," he said, adding that the suspects had long been monitored and tracked by Revolutionary Guards intelligence services.
Tayyeb said the assassination attempt was "being prepared for years", without mentioning the names of Arab countries allegedly involved in the plot.
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"The three suspects were sent abroad," wrote Sipanews, the official website of the Revolutionary Guards, noting that "significant sums have been spent on training and preparing them," adding that the three Iranians are backed by "Israeli-Arab intelligence services."
The Quds Force increased its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad when he appeared close to defeat in Syria, and helped armed factions defeat the Islamic State in Iraq.
The legions' success has made Soleimani a central figure in extending Iranian influence in the Middle East, which the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel have struggled to contain.
Iranian television on Tuesday aired Suleimani's first interview in which he said he was in Lebanon to help Hezbollah during the war against Israel in the summer of 2006.
Frequent air strikes have targeted the Quds Force bases in Syria, and in August Israel accused the corps of plotting "deadly drones" and said its air strikes showed Tehran its forces were at risk anywhere.
Israeli media quoted Foreign Minister Israel Katz as saying at the time that his country was working to eliminate Soleimani.