Israel was part of the plan to assassinate Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020 (Anatolia)
Former US President Donald Trump said that Israel was part of the plan to assassinate the former commander of the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Qassem Soleimani, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu withdrew from the plan two days before its implementation.
During his interview with Fox News yesterday, Sunday, Trump confirmed that Netanyahu was an essential part of the operation against Soleimani for a long time, noting that they worked together on many issues during that period.
After Israel withdrew at the last minute, Trump convinced the generals to carry out the operation, saying, “When we shot down Soleimani, Israel was supposed to participate with us in that, but two days before the attack, they said: We cannot do this. Then I turned to our general and said to him: "Can we do this? And he said, 'Yes, we can do it, sir. It's up to you.' Then I said, 'Then let's do it.'"
On January 3, 2020, Soleimani and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, deputy head of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, were killed as a result of their convoy being targeted by two Hellfire missiles near Baghdad International Airport.
At the beginning of this year, the Iranian judicial authorities revealed the number of countries that participated in the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, identifying 125 defendants and suspects, who are members of the US administration structure.
Trump's statements come in the context of responding to attacks targeting an American base in Jordan by factions supporting Iran, which resulted in the killing of 3 American soldiers.
American forces carried out retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria against the Quds Force and the militias loyal to it.
When Trump was asked in the interview about the attack, he replied that this would not have happened during his presidency. He added that when he was president, Iran respected him, and that he had put strong pressure on Iran because of its actions, and he expected their reaction.
Source: Agencies